Spain on alert over new biker gangs

 

The enforcement agencies are warning about a new type of criminal in Spain: members of biker gangs, most of whom are coming in from central Europe.

An Interior Ministry report states that "this is the right time to increase preventive police activity and research, considering their incipient state in our country."

The report mentions gangs such as Hell's Angels, Satudarah MC, No Surrender MC and Bandidos MC, all of whom are well established in Germany and the Netherlands, among other countries.

All of them also have a long record of criminal activity, ranging from arms and drug trafficking, to money laundering, burglary, extortion and violent robbery.

The Interior Ministry is asking for full cooperation with the Dutch government The more than 80 investigations now underway in those countries have also detected several homicide and murder attempts.

According to the report, Satudarah MC was "the first gang to land in our country, deploying six sections across Catalonia, Madrid, Galicia and Andalusia, where its presence is greater. Its members are mostly Dutch citizens."

"Their introduction has come hand in hand with the creation of legal businesses in sectors such as the hotel and restaurant industry, the automobile sector, and real estate. These businesses are run exclusively by gang members and conceal networks whose purpose is to hide the profits of the illegal activities committed in their countries of origin."

Internal conflict in Satudarah MC led to a breakaway group that calls itself No Surrender MC, and whose members in Spain could number as many as 160, according to police investigations.

The Interior Ministry is asking for full cooperation with the Dutch government, which is targeting these groups in its fight against crime.

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