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DEA busts multi-state drug ring

Aldridge
Fred Aldridge

    

ASHLAND A suspected President of the Southern White Boys Motorcycle Club — an affiliate of the Aryan Brotherhood — is in custody following an investigation spearheaded by the Boyd County-based DEA Drug Task Force.

Consisting of federal officers along with investigators from the Russell Police Department, the Raceland Police Department, the Boyd County Sheriff’s Department, the Cabell County Sheriff’s Department and the St. Albans Police Department, the task force brought the hammer down Tuesday on 40-year-old Fred Aldridge at a hotel in Ironton, according to a press release.

The task force, along with the Cabell County Sheriff’s Department, also took in 30-year-old Delmer Kincaid II and Amy Lynn Carter, 37, both of Huntington, on state charges of possession with the intent to deliver methamphetamine.

Over the course of the investigation, drug officers seized 2 pounds of crystal meth, 1 ounce of fentanyl, several hundred doses of oxycodone, Xanax and gabapentin, paraphernalia, $11,000 in cash and two pistols, according to the release.

The three suspects were all moving drugs together, according to a task force official.

Authorities point to Aldridge as a major supplier of meth into the tri-state area — an official with the Task Force confirmed more charges are forthcoming.

According to a 2011 report by the Anti-Defamation League — a non-profit that researches racist extremism — there’s been increasing overlap between motorcycle gangs and white supremacist gangs over the years.

The ADL report details how the two sets of gangs frequently share similar symbols, such as swastikas, SS lighting bolts and Iron Crosses. But it goes beyond that — the report states most gangs have similar recruitment systems and share similar front businesses as well as criminal activities.

The report details cross membership between notable white supremacist figures and motorcycle gangs.

At the time of the report, Terry Lee Boyce, a former Imperial Wizard of the Confederate Knights of America in North Carolina had patched up with a motorcycle gang in Marietta, Ohio.

Another case the ADL points out is the formation of the Order of the Blood following the 2001 release of James “Aryan Jim” Blomquist in 2001. Blomquist, a member of the Ohio Aryan Brotherhood (unaffiliated from the nationwide prison gang of the same name) formed the motorcycle gang with the aid of his prison gang and the Pagans Motorcycle Club, according to the report.

Only four years out of prison, Blomquist and his gang were indicted on charges of gun running, check forgery and drug manufacturing.

Other white supermacist biker gangs detailed in the report include the Confederate Cavalry Corps, 5150 Crew, Sons of Aesir, the White Boy Society, White Riders Riding Club, Sons of Dixie Riding Club, the Norsemen Clan and the Peckerwoods.

The Aryan Brotherhood was a prison gang that began in the mid-1960s — the ADL report doesn’t list any motorcycle clubs sanctioned or affiliated with the gang, it does note prison gangs typically translate into crimes on the streets as well.