Mass Biker defection has Berlin bracing for violence

This article was about a group of 76 members of the Bandidos who defected to become Hell's Angels. On Tuesday of this week, the members left the Bandidos. In the biker community, there are two rules: maintain the code of silence and hate enemy biker gangs. In recent months, there have been several confrontations between the two gangs. In one situation, the police arrived on the scene of a fight and discovered a man lying in the street with an axe in his leg. He replied that it was from a traffic accident.

The 76 defectors have been seen around Berlin wearing red and white Hell's Angels attire. The head of a local Hell's Angels club has been seen talking with the members of the defecting group. Recently, this leader was stabbed. The officials feel that he was stabbed by a member of the rival gang. The reason for them leaving the Bandidos was not reported in the article.

The battles between the two groups has been very brutal. They have ranged in brutality from knives to explosives. The police have officers watching locations for both groups. They are worried about a massive war breaking out.

The Bandidos have acknowledged the members leaving, however, the Hell's Angels have not officially reported them as members.

I was quite interested in this article. I did not realize that either group existed outside of the U.S. I'm not a biker gang expert, but I do watch the news frequently and I have not heard of any biker battles in our region. I know that the Hell's Angels and Bandidos can be violent groups but I was quite shocked about the man with an axe in his leg and the use of explosives. That is some serious firepower! I would think that a conflict that vicious would be news-worthy. I am curious to find out if the foreign sects of the gangs are more violent than the Americans.

This article was written by Jörg Diehl, Thomas Heise and Claas Meyer-Heuer.

This article can be found at:

http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,675916,00.html