FYI: Translated from German
The large-scale deployment of heavily armed officers began at dawn: after rocker wars and shootings, almost 500 police officers enforced the ban on a Bandidos chapter.
Düsseldorf – Almost 500 police officers have enforced the ban on a local association of the notorious rocker group Bandidos in the Ruhr area.
“Attempted murder, dangerous bodily harm and violations of the weapons law are accounted for by these members. There were shootings on the street,” said North Rhine-Westphalia Interior Minister Herbert Reul (CDU) on Thursday in Düsseldorf. “They were simply rocker wars for supremacy in Hagen.”
The Bandidos chapter “Witten / Hohenlimburg” and the associated sub-organization “Los Compadres Hagen” have now been banned and dissolved “because it is a criminal organization”, Reul justified the move. The now banned association with 28 members is the successor organization of the Bandidos chapter MC Hagen, which dissolved itself in March 2019.
28 objects were searched and 12 motorcycles, 8 frocks, a brass knuckles, a list of members and a small amount of drugs were seized. The aim of the action was also to secure the association’s assets and evidence.
At the Hagen district court, several Bandidos rockers from the region are currently in two trials for shootings in Cologne and Hagen as well as for suspicion of the formation of a criminal organization.
In November 2018 and January 2019, according to the indictment in Cologne, there were two attacks with firearms on enemy rockers of the “Hells Angels”. One of the victims suffered serious injuries and was at times in mortal danger. In the second case, “Bandidos” rockers are said to have shot at a bar that they attributed to the “Hells Angels”. Several shots rammed through the front door, no one was injured.
“These illegal activities endanger public safety to a high degree. The monopoly of violence belongs to the state and not to the rockers,” said Reul. There were searches in Hagen, Dortmund, Lünen, Lüdenscheid, Altena, Schwerte and Cologne. Heavily armed special police units were also involved in the operation.
“The rockers play with the lives of innocent people and threaten public safety. The police do not tolerate brutal hostilities,” said Reul.
