Outlaw Biker Takedown Sets New Capture Record

The notorious Mongols outlaw biker gang have been described as a "criminal syndicate on wheels" by agents from the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives.  For years, that federal agency has worked tirelessly to shut the Mongols down once and for all.

Now, with help from AMW's viewers, the government may have finally delivered the knock-out blow to the Mongols, while setting a new America's Most Wanted single case capture record in the process. 

Eight fugitive Mongols have been captured as a direct result of AMW viewer tips.  It started in the fall of 2008 with the culmination of an ambitious ATF undercover penetration that infiltrated cops into the very core of the Mongols biker gang. 

In a massive pre-dawn raid on Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2008, agents from the A.T.F., Las Vegas P.D., the L.A. County Sheriff, and the Montebello, Calif. police swept into 88 locations in several states to serve more than 100 warrants against Mongol members for a range of alleged illegalities including murder, attempted murder, and RICO federal racketeering crimes.

In the initial sweep, 64 Mongols were arrested for charges ranging from attempted murder, stabbing, kidnapping, prostitution, torture, and narcotics distribution. 

At least one Mongol was charged with hate crimes related to attacks on African-Americans.

Among the big fish in the feds' dragnet, Ruben "Doc" Cavasos, the outspoken former national president of the gang, his son, and the Denver chapter president Ben Maestas were arrested.  Maestas was surprised by agents and cops during a traffic stop in Colorado on the morning of the raid.

The raid was the product of three years of investigation featuring four undercover agents, each of whom systematically gained the trust of the gang by passing various tests, including polygraphs, before they were finally inducted into the upper ranks of the organization and made "fully patched" members. 

In addition, several female agents were embedded within the Mongols.  ATF Group Supervisor Eric Hardin and Case Agent John Ciccone managed the group of undercover operatives throughout the long, dangerous mission.

Los Angeles Special Agent in Charge John Torres told AMW that he hopes "this is one of the last times we have to deal with this group."

This isn't the first time the Mongols have been infiltrated by the ATF. 

In 2001, an undercover investigator became a full-patch member, rising to the rank of treasurer and gathering enough evidence to convict 53 Mongol members. 

But this time, with Operation Black Rain, the ATF targeted every level of the gang from the leadership to the mid-level and foot soldiers.

The Mongols were founded in Montebello, Calif., in the 1970's and eventually grew to Arizona, Oklahoma, Nevada, Montana, Oregon, Colorado and as far east as Virginia. 

By 2008, the gang boasted several international chapters, including one in Italy. 

However, with an estimated 1,000 members, the group paled in numbers to their archrivals, the notorious Hell's Angels.  The two biker gangs each consider themselves to be "One Percenters," meaning the baddest of the bad on two wheels, willing to fight and die for their club and brother bikers.

Initially, police say the Mongols came together as a largely Hispanic group because they were denied entry into the Hell's Angels because of their ethnicity.  As a result, there have been numerous bloody conflicts between the two gangs over the past several decades. 

In 2002, members of the Mongols and the Hell's Angels engaged in a violent clash at Harrah's Casino in Laughlin, Nev.  Cops say the riot started with kicks, but when it was over, one Mongol and two Hell's Angels were dead.

The mêlée, captured on the casino's surveillance cameras, showed bikers wildly shooting and stabbing each other, and the grim aftermath that left dozens severely injured. 

The hatred and violence between the two gangs has not abated over the years. On September 2, 2008, Mark "Papa" Guardado, the President of the San Francisco chapter of the Hell's Angels, was gunned down, cops say, by a Mongol.

Retaliatory strikes are the norm in biker wars, and a month later, on October 8, Mongol member Vincent Martin was shot and killed while riding his motorcycle on the freeway in Glendale, Calif. 

As federal agents secretly filmed the massive Mongol turnout for Martin's funeral, just three days before Operation Black Rain went down, the bikers had no idea that ATF agents were riding with them into the cemetery.

In an unprecedented move, the U.S. Attorney in Los Angeles was not content to arrest scores of Mongols, confiscate their bikes, property, guns and cash. 

The government filed an injunction that will bar anyone from ever again wearing the Mongol's signature sleeveless vest, or "cut" as bikers call it, without the threat of arrest. 

The injunction, if it is upheld by the courts, will set a new precedent in law enforcement tactics against biker gangs, and possibly street gangs that have trademarked gang logos.  

In essence, the ATF not only got deep inside this gang and took their freedom -- plus their ill gotten gains from organized crime -- the feds have taken the Mongols' very name from them.

Since October 21, 2008 when the indictment was unsealed, anyone seen in public wearing the Mongol insignia could be subject to arrest by the federal government. 

As stunned as the Mongols were to be swept up in masse, they were doubly shocked to learn that they can no longer ride down the highways sporting their most coveted garmet, the patched vest they call "cuts".

Operation Black Rain was a huge success, but after the initial raids there were still a few indicted Mongols who managed to elude capture.  On November 1, 2008, the ATF asked America's Most Wanted to help track those straggler fugitive bikers down: 

	Edward Moreno
	Felix Figueroa
	Abram Wedig
	Peter Soto
	Thomas Savala
	William Louie
	Ramon Contreras Jr.
	David Rivera
	Brandon Cheville
	Ismael Rivera Jr.
	Renato Gomez

Of the 11 fugitive Mongols featured on the show and on AMW.com, a total of eight were captured as a direct result of viewer tips. 

The first to be cuffed was Abe "Cane" Wedig.  On November 5, 2008 Wedig surrendered to authorities in Southern California just four days after he was profiled on the show. 

He'd been in Las Vegas on the night of the broadcast, here he was employed at a scaffolding company.  Later that same night, another AMW tip led cops to a garage in Los Angeles were accused cocaine trafficker Felix "Risky" Figueroa and Thomas "Danger" Savala were hiding out.

Three direct captures had gone down quickly with the help of AMW viewers, and the word was out on the street among the Mongols that hiding was getting harder by the day.

On November 14, 2008 David Rivera was captured, and five days after that, his brother Ismael "Yo Yo" Rivera was the next to be arrested.

The ATF and AMW's Mongol-hunting partnership yielded two more direct captures before 2008 came to a close with the December snag of attempted murder suspect William "Chief" Louie, and the surrender three days before Christmas of Ramon "Speedy" Contreras. 

According to cops, Contreras told them that he was tired of running from the pressure put on him by being profiled on America's Most Wanted. He was Mongol Black Rain capture #7.

In March 2009, Brandon "Suicide" Cheville became the eighth Mongol fugitive captured as a direct result of tips from AMW viewers.

Cheville's capture set a new AMW record for most captures from a single case.

The previous record was seven, from the notorious Texas Seven prison break gang. As of July 6, 2009, there are only two Mongols still on the AMW list who have been arrested, Renato Gomez and Peter "The Bouncer" Soto.

Soto is a hulking 6'4" 375 lb. tough guy who got his nickname working the door at Hollywood nightspots.  Agents say he was also the president of the Hollywood chapter.

Renato Gomez is wanted for drug trafficking and is believed to still be hiding somewhere in California. 

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