All language subtitles for Gangland Chronicles S01E05 1080p WEB h264-EDITH_track3_[eng]

[♪]

Gangs rule their territories
through ruthless enterprises,

fear,

and a strict code.

Deviate from this code

or challenge their power...

and retribution soon follows...

especially in one of
the most violent biker gangs

in history...

the Mongols Motorcycle Club.

Here are three stories

that forge the fearsome
reputation of this vicious gang.

First, the Mongols wage
a brutal war over California

with the Hells Angels.

[Droban] They were murderers.

They were willing to do
whatever it took.

[Narrator] Next,
an ATF agent risks his life

to infiltrate the gang
and bring it down.

He said, "If I put a bullet
in the back of your head,

nobody's going to know
where to start looking for you."

[Narrator] And finally,

years of bad blood
with their oldest rivals

reaches a boiling point
inside a crowded casino.

It was a lot of carnage,
a lot of blood.

It was just chaos.

[Narrator]
These are the stories

from inside
the Mongols Motorcycle Club.

This is Gangland Chronicles.

1969.

Montebello, California.

[sirens wailing]

Police are on the alert

for a new menace
on L.A. County highways.

It's an outlaw motorcycle gang
called the Mongols.

The Mongols really formed

during the height
of the Vietnam War.

[Narrator] Returning stateside,

some vets
miss the rush of combat.

So what's going
to substitute for that?

Being an outlaw gangster

gets about as close to it
as it can be.

[Narrator] Many of these vets
returning home to California

line up to join the state's
most infamous biker gang...

the Hells Angels...

but the Angels tell one group
they're not welcome.

[Queen]
Because they were Latino,

there are stories

about the Hells Angels
not letting them in.

[Narrator] These new outlaws

start their own gang,
the Mongols...

and their logo
puts the world on notice.

Their center patch

is kind of
like Genghis Khan on a chopper.

[Droban] It personified
who the Mongols were.

They used violence
as part of their lifestyle.

[Queen] They say,
"This is who we are.

I just got back from a war.

You want another one?

Let's go."

[Narrator] During the 1970s,

the gang's members
rack up hefty rap sheets

stealing motorcycles,
selling guns,

and committing random assaults
on whoever crosses them.

Their rage is fueled
by the gang's drug of choice.

These guys are doing
methamphetamine all the time.

They'd stay up all night long.

[Narrator] Soon, the Mongols
aren't just doing meth,

they're dealing it.

In the late 1970s,

California police
estimate a single pound

to have a street value
of just over $11,000,

nearly $60,000 today.

[Cook] From
a street level standpoint,

putting that drug out,

you're going to make
a lot of money,

because there is
an endless supply of customers.

[Narrator]
The gang traffics the drug

across a network
of new chapters

that spring up
throughout Southern California

in what will become

a multi-million-dollar
criminal enterprise.

As the Mongols expand
their California foothold,

it's only a matter of time
before they run up against

the state's original
outlaw biker gang,

the Hells Angels,

igniting a turf war.

1977.

The Mongols
add a California patch

called a bottom rocker

to their gang colors.

Putting that on

was a direct affront
to the Hell's Angels,

that we're claiming this area
now too.

[Droban]
They're vying for territory,

because they are trying

to be not only
the dominant biker gang,

but the dominant
in their drug trade.

[Narrator] The Angels demand

that the Mongols remove
"California" from their colors.

[Queen] You're talking
a bunch of Vietnam veterans,

bad-asses and stuff,

and they're not going to bend
to the Hells Angels,

and they said, "Bring it on."

[Narrator]
The feud between the two gangs

comes to a head
on California's Interstate 15.

September 5, 1977.

Two Mongols,
Raymond "Jingles" Smith

and Emerson "Redbeard" Morris,

are cruising south
from Los Angeles.

[DeLoretto]
Jingles and Redbeard

were coming back
from a Mongol event,

heading back to San Diego,
where they were from,

and a car pulled up next to 'em.

[Narrator] What happens next
starts a war.

[automatic gunfire]

September 5, 1977.

Southern California.

A suspicious car
pulls up alongside two Mongols

as they cruise down the highway.

Jingles and Redbeard
were going down south

on the 15 freeway
in San Diego.

[automatic gunfire]

[Santillan] A car rolled up

and just sprayed 'em
with a machine gun,

and they passed away.

[Narrator]
The Hells Angels have declared

full-scale war on the Mongols.

[explosion]

There was a lot
of car bombings

back and forth in that era,

and a lot of shootings
back and forth.

[automatic gunfire]

It was just tit for tat
for years after that.

I mean, we were just
blowing up each other.

[gunfire]

[Narrator]
Throughout the conflict,

the Mongols
have a standing order.

If you can catch a Hells Angel
out by himself somewhere,

you have to kill
that Hells Angel.

[Narrator]
It's a ruthless policy

that will attract
unwanted attention

to the gang's operations.

January 17, 1982.

Lemon Grove, California.

A group of Mongols including
Scott "Junior" Ereckson

parties at The Horseshoe Tavern.

Ereckson spots a man
wearing a tell-tale ring,

a Death's Head
worn only by Hells Angels.

This isn't just any low-ranking
Hell's Angel, though.

This is actually
the Sergeant-at-Arms

of the San Diego Chapter,

Raymond "Fat Ray" Piltz.

[Narrator]
Ereckson sees his chance...

and moves in for the kill.

[Jarroush] During the scuffle,

Ereckson's gun falls out
and falls to the floor.

[gunfire]

Junior Ereckson
dumped some bullets in him

and killed him on the spot.

[Narrator] Junior Ereckson
takes a plea deal

and goes to prison
for manslaughter.

But the fallout
doesn't end there.

Killing Fat Ray
in a crowded bar

brings major heat down
on both gangs,

who have millions
of reasons to avoid it.

[Jarroush] The Angels have
a massive criminal organization.

Likewise, the Mongols
also have a criminal enterprise.

So the Angels sit down
and start to hash out a plan

to broker a truce
with the Mongols.

[Narrator]
The Hells Angels agree

to back off
on the bottom rocker beef,

as long as the Mongols
stick to Southern California

and don't try to open
any new chapters

in Hells Angels territory.

You cannot cross over
into Northern California

without repercussion.

[Narrator] The truce keeps
the Hells Angels at bay...

and the money rolling in.

But in the 1990s,

the Mongols will have
a new target on their back,

one the gang fails to see.

March, 1998.

Los Angeles.

The ATF launches
"Operation Ivan,"

sending in one of its own
to infiltrate the Mongols

and bring the gang down.

The Mongols are involved

in drug manufacture
and distribution

and firearms trafficking,

and a lot of violent crime.

[Narrator] Agent Billy Queen
goes undercover.

I was riding undercover
with the name Billy St. John.

Working my way in
took months,

because you just don't
go up to the Mongols

and say, "Howdy, how you doing?

I wanna become a Mongol."

[Narrator]
Queen knows what's at risk

if his cover is blown.

[Queen] They're going to move in
and take care of business.

They're going to kill you.

[Narrator] A month later,
Queen is invited

to ride with the gang to
a motorcycle rally in Nevada...

[men chanting]

[Narrator] ...where he bunks
with a meth-snorting Mongol

named Rocky.

[Queen]
He took his big Bowie knife

and cut that bag open,

and then he lined two lines
out on the table, of meth.

He put that big Bowie knife
in my face,

and he pointed at it,

and he said, "Is that line
too much for you?"

[Narrator] ATF agents
are forbidden to use drugs,

even undercover,

as it could jeopardize
any future case in court.

But if Billy refuses,

Rocky will assume he's a cop
and alert the gang...

who will kill him.

April, 1998.

Undercover ATF agent
Billy Queen

has just been offered meth
by a Mongol biker.

If he refuses to do it,
the gang will kill him.

Queen has to think fast.

[Queen] I was able
to roll up a bill

over top of that line

and wipe that line
off in my hand

and into the floor
where Rocky couldn't see it.

And Rocky patted me
on the back.

Hey, yeah! Come on,
let's party, dude!

Let's party!

[Narrator] A few months later,

Queen makes
a major breakthrough.

[Queen] The president of the San
Fernando Valley chapter

came up to me and said, "Billy,
we want you to be a Mongol."

But I was told that I was
going to have to prove to them

that I could shoot a gun.

[Narrator] But on arrival
at a remote gun range,

the Mongols' national
Sergeant-at-Arms,

Donald "Red Dog" Jarvis,
confronts Queen.

Red Dog started
getting in my face,

saying, "You're a [bleep] cop."

I said, "Red Dog,
I ain't no cop."

Then Red Dog said,

"So if I put a bullet
in the back of your head,

nobody's going to know
where to start looking for you.

Is that right, Billy?"

I said, "That's right, Red Dog."

And then he said, "Go out there
and set some targets up for us."

[Narrator] Queen continues
to maintain his composure...

I put up with
whatever I had to put up with.

[Narrator] And his efforts
eventually pay off.

October 1999.

After six months
of high-risk undercover work,

Billy Queen is made
a full member

of the San Fernando Mongols,

and he's unexpectedly handed
an important job in the chapter.

[Queen] The president came
to me one day, and he said,

"I'm going to make you
an officer."

You're going to be
the secretary/treasurer."

[Narrator] As a treasurer,

Queen will have full access

to the Mongols'
accounting records.

[Queen] They kept books

that showed
their criminal activities...

selling dope or selling guns
or stealing motorcycles.

[Narrator]
For the next six months,

Queen collects highly detailed
evidence against the Mongols,

until law enforcement
has enough to make its move.

May 19, 2000.

[sirens wailing]

Shortly after dawn,

700 agents raid locations
across Southern California.

54 Mongols are arrested
on charges

ranging from drug
and gun trafficking offenses

to murder.

As a result of his efforts,
he brings down this chapter,

and he brings down
the leadership,

and they get indicted
and convicted.

[Narrator] The arrests
decimate the Mongols' ranks...

but instead of being

the final nail in the coffin
for the gang,

they increase
their recruiting efforts.

The international president
at that time was Doc Cavazos,

and he was really pushing
a kind of a recruitment drive.

He'd helped a San Jose chapter
of the Mongols

start in northern California.

[Narrator]
But this doesn't sit well

with their former rivals.

The Hells Angels,
they're upset with us

because we started moving
up north into their backyard.

[Narrator] This violates
the terms of the agreement

between the Mongols
and the Hells Angels,

so after 20 years
of relative peace,

the two gangs are once again
heading for a showdown.

April 27, 2002.

Laughlin, Nevada.

An estimated 80,000 bikers
roar into the city

for the annual River Run
Motorcycle Rally.

Among them
are dozens of members

of both the Mongols

and their long-time rivals,
the Hells Angels.

2:00 a.m.

Inside Harrah's Casino,
a confrontation is brewing

between an estimated 40 Mongols
and 60 Hells Angels.

[Droban] People in the casino

are starting
to get really nervous

when they see these two groups

sort of mad-dogging each other
and eyeing each other.

[Santillan]
It was becoming an issue.

We knew that something
was going to kick off.

[Narrator] The Mongols
and Hells Angels

are just one blow away
from reigniting a war.

April 27, 2002.

Laughlin, Nevada.

40 Mongols have squared off
against 60 Hells Angels

in a crowded casino,

itching to throw down.

Leaders from both sides

make a last-ditch attempt
to defuse the situation.

When the Hells Angels
entered Harrah's,

and, you know, basically
confronted the Mongols,

there was conversation going on
to talk the situation down.

[Santillan] We were talking,

the talks were going good,

and next thing you know,
a Hells Angel threw a kick,

and the melee started.

[Narrator] Harrah's Casino
erupts in a massive brawl.

It was just chaos, full chaos.

[Narrator]
The violence quickly escalates.

There's not enough security
or law enforcement there

to stop anything.

[Narrator]
Both gangs pull knives,

and show no mercy
to the other side.

Guns appear, and bullets fly.

Harrah's Casino
is now a war zone.

[gunfire]

Helpless bystanders take cover
wherever they can

while the two gangs
battle it out.

It was a lot of carnage,
a lot of blood.

The Mongols were outnumbered.

They stood up for themselves.

They fought back.

The Mongols will defend
themselves to the end.

[sirens wailing]

[Narrator]
When the dust settles,

two Hells Angels are dead
from gunshot wounds,

and one Mongol,
Anthony "Bronson" Barrera,

has been stabbed to death.

[Santillan]
There are other people

that eventually passed away.

They succumbed
to their injuries,

and that a lot of people
didn't know.

It wasn't publicized

because it didn't happen
on the casino floor,

it happened after.

[Narrator]
The Harrah's Casino battle

re-starts the war between
the Mongols and Hells Angels,

a conflict
that continues to this day.

[Santillan] Today if you see
a Hell's Angel

and you're a Mongol,

you confront each other.

That's just the way it is.

It's full-scale right now.

There's too much bad blood,

five decades
of going back and forth,

tit for tat.

It'll never be right.

[Queen] And every time
you get into it,

it's a life-threatening
situation.

You don't know where
they're going to pull guns,

and you're going to be involved
in a big shootout

like what happened in Laughlin.

[gunfire]

[Narrator] Today, despite
efforts by law enforcement,

Mongols membership
continues to grow.

As of 2023, there are
an estimated 1,200 members

in chapters
across the United States.

They're trying to grow
quickly in numbers

so that they can then acquire
more and more territory.

[Santillan]
Now we're in Southeast Asia.

We were in Canada for a while.

We were in Russia,
we're in Germany,

you know, we're all over.

[Cook] Now they are
in the top eight

of motorcycle gangs worldwide,

so, yeah, they're a very,
very formidable group.

[Queen] They're a terrible,
violent organization,

and they scare
the crap out of people.

They scare the crap
out of communities.

They use their colors to do it.

They are outlaws.