Kadir P’s “Centro” chapter has proven particularly brutal in this ongoing feud, and difficult to control. Its members have repeatedly made savage attacks on rivals in the Hell’s Angels

Officials believe that Frank H., the head of the Hell’s Angels club in Hanover, hammered out the details of the defection last week with “Centro” leader Kadir P. Likewise, Peter M., one of the highest-ranking Bandidos in Europe, confirmed to SPIEGEL ONLINE that the crossover took place on Tuesday evening. However, when questioned about the matter, Hell’s Angels member Rudolf “Django” T. declined to confirm that the defectors had been accepted into his organization yet, saying only: “We’ll let you know in the next few days.”While the defecting members of “Centro” — both notorious and feared in the biker scene for their violence — have cut ties with their old group, it appears that their membership in Hell’s Angels has not yet been finalized. But the bikers have stripped their club house in Berlin’s northern Reinickendorf district of all Bandido insignia.Recent months have seen an uptick in violence between the rival motorcycle gangs — particularly in Berlin, the northern state of Schleswig-Holstein and eastern Germany. And the attacks have been escalating, from knife assaults to shootings to explosives. The reason: the Bandidos have managed to recruit hundreds of young men, many of them from immigrant families in Germany’s east, and put the Hell’s Angels on the defensive.Kadir P’s “Centro” chapter has proven particularly brutal in this ongoing feud, and difficult to control. Its members have repeatedly made savage attacks on rivals in the Hell’s Angels camp, which has close ties to the far-right fan club of a local football club. Indeed, one newspaper article recently reported that the Hell’s Angels in Berlin refuse to allow foreigners into their ranks.Now, however, the brutality would appear to have been forgiven and forgotten — the avowed enemies may soon become brothers in arms.
In the meantime, police units have taken up positions in front of the Bandidos’ clubhouse in Berlin. Investigators also say that biker-related properties have been kept under observations in Berlin and the surrounding state of Brandenburg since Tuesday evening. “We want to see whether a war breaks out,” one investigator told SPIEGEL TV.Nobody knows, after all, how the Bandidos will react to this mass defection. Revenge and retaliation? Do the “traitors” now have to fear for their lives? In short, what does the defection mean?
“That they’re gone,” says Peter M., the number-two man in Europe’s Bandidos organization, before hanging up the phone.

76 members and supporters of “Centro,” as the Berlin chapter of the Bandidos is known, are reportedly trying to defect to the Hell’s Angels camp.

There has never been a shortage of brutality between the biker gangs Bandidos and Hell’s Angels. But after 70 members of a Berlin club defected to their erstwhile rivals, police in the German capital are bracing for violence.It’s only been a few months since a group of Bandidos allegedly ambushed and assaulted a group of Hell’s Angels, their arch-enemies in the biker gang world, in Finowfurt, a small town northeast of Berlin. Investigators and prosecutors say that at least half a dozen Berlin-based Banditos chased down a group of Hell’s Angels from the city, resulting in a savage fight.
When all was said and done, a gravely wounded Hell’s Angels hanger-on named Enrico K. was lying on the street — with an axe in his leg. When the police questioned him about what had happened, he attributed his gruesome wound to “a traffic accident.”In the biker system of values, there have always been two constants. One is the sacred “code of silence.” The other is the hatred for enemy biker clubs. As such, a recent development in the Berlin biker scene — first reported by SPIEGEL TV and SPIEGEL ONLINE on Wednesday — is as unprecedented as it is explosive.A total of 76 members and supporters of “Centro,” as the Berlin chapter of the Bandidos is known, are reportedly trying to defect to the Hell’s Angels camp. Investigators say the would-be defectors have already appeared in public wearing brand-new red-and-white Hell’s Angels garb, and that they have seen André S., the head of the local Hell’s Angels club, speaking with members of the rival club. The 45-year-old S. was recently stabbed — likely by Bandidos.

massacre of Bandidos Motorcycle Club members sheds more light on the lives of several York Region residents connected to the club.

The Bandido Massacre: A True Story of Bikers, Brotherhood and Betrayal, was compiled after three years of interviews and trial coverage said author and Toronto Star crime reporter Peter Edwards. The book published Tuesday.massacre of Bandidos Motorcycle Club members sheds more light on the lives of several York Region residents connected to the club. The outlaw biker club is perhaps best known publicly in Ontario for a mass murder and subsequent trial, which concluded late last year with the conviction of six men, after the bodies of eight bikers were found near Shedden, ON.
Among those murdered in 2006 were York residents Paul "Big Paul" Sinopoli, 30, of Jackson's Point, the secretary-general of the Bandidos Toronto chapter and Jamie "Goldberg" Flanz, 37, of Keswick.
The book offers a rare glimpse into the often insular biker realm. But rather than just its seedy, dark image, Mr. Edwards paints a different picture of some of the men.For instance, Mr. Flanz, owned a computer business and was a Bandido prospect for six months before his death, and Toronto's George Kriarakis, who reportedly had a strong marriage, likely wanted camaraderie, according to Mr. Edwards.In late October, six men, Wayne Kellestine, Frank Mather, along with Winnipeg residents Marcelo Aravena, Brett Gardiner, Michael Sandham - a former police officer - and Dwight Mushey were found guilty for their roles in the killings.The Texas headquarters of the club was upset with the Canadians for breaching club rules. The night of the murder, there was an attempt to rescind the membership of several men, Mr. Edwards wrote.Even before the Bandidos massacre, Mr. Flanz's home was connected to another violent incident.In December 2005, a 20-year-old woman, who is now in witness protection and who Mr. Edwards referred to as Mary Thompson, was in a home on Hattie Court, in Gerogina, owned by Mr. Flanz.Ms Thompson had experienced a rough home life and a car accident and a high school friend of hers recommended Flanz's home as a good place to stay, he said.
She got a room upstairs and had been there a few weeks when Keswick resident Shawn Douse, who Mr. Edwards described as a husband, father and drug dealer, arrived at the home. Mr. Flanz was not home at the time.After a confrontation about drugs, Mr. Douse was taken into the basement. Upstairs, Ms Thompson could hear Mr. Douse screaming, Mr. Edwards wrote.
Mr. Douse's body was later found in a north Pickering field.Four men, who Mr. Edwards has described as connected to the Bandidos, including Keswick resident Cameron Acorn, a Bandido, and former Keswick resident Bobby Quinn as well as Randy Brown of Jackson's Point, were later convicted in connection with Mr. Douse's death. An Oakville man was also convicted.Mr. Flanz had nothing to do with the death of Mr. Douse, according to Mr. Edwards.Mr. Flanz's home was simply a "good place to meet", Mr. Edwards said.Mr. Flanz had a good rapport with Ms Thompson, the book states."He was like a big brother," Mr. Edwards said. "(Ms Thompson) was terrified the next day, she listened to the beating, which was really traumatic and then the next morning she has to clean up the blood. Her reaction was more emotional more than anything else. There was also a real fear for her life ... that she's a witness and not really part of the group."In the book, Mr. Edwards thanks Mr. Douse's father for reminding him of the human toll the murder took.
Meanwhile, Mr. Edwards said Mr. Sinopoli weighed several hundred pounds and constantly fretted about his health. Mr. Edwards describes Mr. Sinopoli, a former security guard, as having "dabbled in selling drugs".However, he was well like, Mr. Edwards said.While acknowledging the men were outlaws, Mr. Edwards said it was important to show that they were also people."A lot of them are like people we went to high school with," he said. "They might not have been on the honour roll but they were still human. A lot of them, if they stayed around a little bit longer, they probably would have floated out of it. Sometimes it's the situation that makes people the way they are."
York Regional Police is monitoring the activities of outlaw biker groups in the region, investigative services Insp. Richard Crabtree said.Today, there are two outlaw biker clubhouses in York, including one in Keswick and one in King Township, York police said.Meanwhile, Mr. Edwards also writes about Francesco "Cisco" Lenti, a Vaughan man who court records show was the subject of a Hells Angels plot to curb his attempts at Bandidos expansion. In 2008, Mr. Lenti pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the shooting death of David John "Dread" Buchanan the sergeant at arms for the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club West Toronto chapter and aggravated assault for the wounding of another Hells Angel and a then-prospect member of the club. The shooting took place at a Vaughan club."He's what someone would call a one-percenter's one-percenter," Mr. Edwards said of Mr. Lenti, referring to the term by which some motorcycle riders identify themselves or are identified as being outlaws."If Lenti had been listened to, the massacre probably wouldn't have happened," Mr. Edwards said. "Lenti had a really strong, uneasy feeling about Sandham. There was something in his antennae about Sandham that he didn't trust."Mr. Edwards said he finds it unlikely that the Bandidos will make a push to expand into Ontario again soon. According to Mr. Edwards, the club is headquartered in the United States.
"The best of them were murdered and the worst of them went to prison for the murders," he said

Sylvain Boulanger openly described to Police how he had murdered someone

Sylvain Boulanger was also granted immunity from prosecution, despite admitting to Police that he'd actually murdered someone himself. His defection from the notorious biker gang led to more than 150 arrests during Operation SharQc in 2009.The three-year operation saw Boulanger, an Angels member for over 20 years, spill the beans over murders, attempted murders and other crimes committed by his former associates.
Boulanger openly described to Police how he had murdered someone:
"The door was open, I come up on the side and I shoot. I hear 'Ow! Ow! Ow!' I see him there and in my head, he's dead. So I get out of there running," he told police in a videotaped conversation obtained by Radio-Canada.Boulanger initially asked for over £5 million but the request was turned down.