All language subtitles for United.Gangs.Of.America.S01E01.1080p.WEB.h264-BAE

-Sunday, high noon.

A busy strip mall in Waco, Texas
is about to become a war zone.

As churchgoers return
from service,

the parking lot
at the Twin Peaks restaurant

suddenly fills
with 200 bikers in town.

They're there for
a big biker conference called

the Confederation of Clubs.

-This was kind of
like a United Nations assembly,

if you will, of bikers.

-Members of the Bandidos,

the largest
and most infamous club in Texas,

arrived to find
that a rival gang, the Cossacks,

have taken over the patio.

-You had a large amount
of bikers

from two rival factions show up.

-It became clear

that this was not just going
to be a Sunday morning meeting.

-The Bandidos and the Cossacks

had been at each other's throats
for months.

-There were incidents
across Texas.

People were getting hurt.

-Tensions with the Cossacks

came down to a patch
called the bottom rocker.

The Bandidos wear "TEXAS"
in capital letters.

No other club has that right.

-Who wears it is a big thing.

We won't certainly
tell anybody they can't wear it.

We tell them they
should earn it.

Because in the biker world,

everything you wear is earned,
right?

You don't earn it,
you don't wear it.

-Legendary Bandido
Jerry Pierson, AKA Scratch,

rolls into the parking lot

and sees the lot full
of rival bikers.

He knows something's
about to go off.

-Everybody had been told
to kind of keep their eyes out.

There's something
that's not going right.

-Scratch is right.

Someone has snitched
to the Waco Police

and they're ready and
waiting with SWAT teams in tow.

-We get off of our bikes and
they all come out to the patio.

And all hell breaks loose.

[ Gunshots ]

-Three small caliber
shots happen.

And at that point in time,
everybody took off running.

[ Gunshots ]

And then I start hearing
rifle fire.

-Three of their SWAT officers
opened fire.

-That was going on behind me.

That was going on
with that patio.

They were bum-rushing me.

You try to survive,
protect your brother.

A couple of guys had that metal
whip out, come up behind me,

beat me in the back of my head.

-It was just chaos,
and pandemonium, and blood,

and people were running
for cover to save their lives.

-It was a shootout
that looked like a scene

out of Quentin Tarantino movie.

[ Sirens wailing ]

-By the time it's over, nine
bikers are dead on the pavement,

177 people are arrested.

-I saw everything from
pistol casings to rifle casings.

There were pools of blood.

One of the most violent,

gruesome crime scenes I've seen
in 35 years of service.

-The Bandidos were
packing all kinds of weapons,

hundreds of weapons.

AK-47s in their cars,
knives in their boots, Glocks.

-The Bandidos pin
the death toll on the police.

-The crime scene
after Waco was horrific.

It was a over-the-top
reaction by law enforcement.

-The shootout goes down
as the worst massacre

in biker history

and locks in
the Bandidos as biker legends.

-The Waco incident really put
the Bandidos on the map.

Probably the most significant
event ever in the United States

involving outlaw
motorcycle gangs as far

as violence is concerned.

-They did refer to them
as the mafia on two wheels.

♪♪

-They're war mongers.

I mean, this is part of their
identity and their persona.

♪♪

-Every young guy likes
the outlaw,

whether it's, you know,
in movies or whatever.

Who wouldn't want to be
an outlaw?

♪♪

♪♪

[ Motorcycle engines revving ]

-The Bandidos are founded
in 1966 in San Leon, Texas

by a Vietnam vet named Donald
Eugene Chambers, AKA Mother.

Back then, the Hells Angels are
the biggest biker gang

on the map,

but they haven't
staked their claim in Texas.

Chambers sees an opening
and jumps.

-They come home
from serving their tours of duty

and they're looking for
a brotherhood

like they had
with their military brothers.

-Chambers adopts
the colors of the Marine Corps,

scarlet and gold,

and sets up a chain of command
from his time as a Marine.

-He adopted many
of the same rank and file

structure
that they had come from.

They have a president,
a vice president,

a sergeant-at-arms, treasurer,
secretary, a road captain.

And so there's an
organized structure to this gang

which makes them different
from street gangs.

-He takes the name
of the Mexican bandits

who live by their own rules,

the Bandidos.

The back of every cut is
emblazoned with the club name,

the territory, and center most,

the club's emblem,
the fat Mexican.

-Now what does that mean
to me?

Everything.

The fact I'm in the Bandidos

means I'm a known gang member
just for wearing it.

-By 1974,
Donald Chambers flames out.

-Donald Chambers is
the brother

that started the whole thing

and he ended up
getting convicted of murder.

-He tracks down
two drug dealers who tried

to cheat the gang by passing
off baking soda as amphetamines.

He orders the dealers
to dig their own graves.

Then one by one,
he takes them out.

[ Gunshot ]

-Back in the early days,

outlaw bikers were outlaw bikers
to the full extent.

-Chambers is sentenced to life,
but the club rides on.

-To survive that long,
think about it,

and they rise to be the top,

it's pretty impressive.

-Elite one-percenter
clubs like the Bandidos

carry a reputation.

They've been called
the worst of the worst.

-The one-percenters are pretty
much willing to do anything

when it comes to their club.

They will really get into
the drug game.

They get into
the prostitution rings.

They'll get into the murders.

They'll be willing
to do pretty much anything.

-It's in the DNA of a person
to be a one-percenter and,

you know,
they're Type A individuals,

very competitive, you know,
alpha males,

and it's just the nature
of the beast.

-Secrecy is sacred, even down
to a club member's real name.

-Nobody ever knew
my real name.

Names don't repeat themselves

because there's ain't
any other Shadow.

There's only one.

You can't replicate
somebody else's name.

Only on one condition.

If they're still alive
and you go after them

for their permission
to use their name.

-Club initiation
is broken up into two parts,

hanging around and prospecting.

-I hung around
with the Bandidos

as a non-patch wearer
for a while.

Kind of like, you know, test
driving a car for a little bit

and they were test driving me.

-As time goes on,

the club makes a big move
into organized crime.

-That criminal activity
involves drug trafficking,

gun running, you know,
extortion,

things of that nature.

So that's what you're
really signing on to.

-The club will use anything
they can to get what they want.

Intimidation is a tool.

-By the mid-'90s,

the Bandidos are fast becoming
a force across the country,

moving roughly $100 million in
gun running, meth, and cocaine.

-They're involved
in the meth trade,

in drug trafficking,
in arms deals,

and they're very instrumental

and very savvy
in having this network

so that they can keep growing
and expanding their enterprise.

-Members pay dues back
to the gang

for the privilege of belonging

and a lot of those dues
that are paid back are elicit.

They're derived from
criminal activities.

-There was just one problem.

The Hells Angels.

-The Hells Angels is
the gold standard

of the outlaw biker world.

-For years, the Hells Angels
and the Bandidos

coexisted under a shaky truce.

-It amounted to respect.

If a Hells Angel
wanted to travel from California

to Florida and they
were going to go through Texas,

it was expected that they would
call Bandidos' members in Texas,

say, "Hey, we're going to
be driving through,

riding our motorcycles through,"
and ask for permission.

-Before long,
that truce goes up in smoke.

Over the next two decades,

tensions explode
around the world.

Nothing is off limits.

-Deaths were in the dozens
and it became an all-out war.

-Things had never been good
between the two clubs

in Northern Europe,

where drive-bys and shootings
had become the status quo.

-The reason
they're all vying for territory

and trying to put their foothold

into international countries
and organizations

is because it's helping
them grow their business.

And their business is
drug trafficking and

arms trafficking.

-It's just a matter of time

before the Hells Angels make
their move.

In March 1996, it all goes down
at the Copenhagen Airport.

Members of the Bandidos
and Hells Angels

are returning home
from a biker conference.

In a twist of fate, they're
all booked on the same flights.

By the time those flights land,

the Hells Angels are ready
and waiting.

The Bandidos exit the gate
and head to their cars.

At that moment,

half a dozen Hells Angels appear
out of nowhere

in the parking lot
and open fire.

Bullets hit the cars point
blank.

One Bandido is killed
and three are injured.

A few months later,
the Bandidos retaliate.

-The Hells Angels
in Copenhagen

hosted an annual Viking party
at their club house.

-Over 150 people
are attending the party.

Some are gang members.
Most aren't.

♪♪

Suddenly, a rocket-propelled
grenade penetrates the side

of the building's concrete walls
and slams into the bar.

Two people are killed
and 19 are seriously injured.

The RPG had been stolen
from a nearby weapons stash

of the Swedish army.

-It's not going to be easy
for anybody to get

an RPG rocket launcher
or anything like that.

But overseas,

you've got -- black markets are
a complete different thing,

and I'm sure the one-percenters
got their hands in

those black markets,

so it would be easy for
them to pick up that hardware.

-Law enforcement
doesn't hold back.

They call the Bandidos
"kamikaze pilots"

who are "scum."

-The people that
are attracted to these gangs,

that are recruited
into these gangs

have that military background.
They're trained in combat.

They train other people
in that club.

-The authorities
have had little luck penetrating

these secretive gangs.

They're now pinning their hopes
on persuading both sides

to sign a peace agreement.

-After the missile attack,

both clubs realize
chaos is bad for business.

There's a truce.

-A truce has been called
between the leader

of the Hells Angels and the head
of the rival Bandido gang.

-And the Bandidos ride on.

This new phase is being led
by a Bandido

who's steadily ascending
up the command chain.

He's got a talent
few people possess.

He's an expert
at leading a double life.

-Jeff Pike was one of
the long-time Bandidos members.

He had been a member since 1979.

-Pike is a former altar boy
who's come from California,

yet thou shall not kill
doesn't apply to him.

-He moved to Texas at 18,

allegedly because
the drinking law made it legal

to consume alcohol at 18.

He started
working in construction

and then bought a motorcycle.

And it wasn't until after that
that he joined the Bandidos.

-He's a family man
who restores classic cars

for a living
as he bides his time.

-He rose through the ranks
slowly.

-The new Bandidos are
not the old Bandido.

We get along with everybody.

-One day, Pike meets
a heating and air conditioning

repairman from San Antonio.

His name is John Portillo.

The two men form a bond
that would span decades

and take the Bandidos
from a biker club

to a worldwide multimillion
dollar criminal enterprise.

-Jeff was a unique cat, man.

He was so laid back.

I mean,
and the dynamic between the two.

John, you knew he was coming
at you.

Jeff was silent and he seemed
like a CEO businessman.

They did complement each other.

-There's one person

who will be crucial to helping
Jeff Pike and John Portillo

in their rise to power,

and she's never told
her story on camera until now.

-[Bleep] is my name

and I am chapter girl
of the Bandido motorcycle club.

-For the first time,

a former chapter girl
of the Bandidos biker club

has agreed to appear on camera.

Her face is obscured
for her protection.

Tara is married to a cop
and a mother of two

when she's first introduced
to Andrew "Corky" Gomez,

vice president of the Southwest
San Antonio Bandidos.

-He pulls up with six
motorcycles into the front yard.

That was the moment
I felt the power.

-Tara starts an affair
with Corky with no idea

that it will place her
on a collision course

with Jeff Pike and
John Portillo's rise to power.

Bandido women fit
into a distinct role --

property of
or proud Bandido old ladies.

-An old lady is a wife of
or the girlfriend of a member.

-Women are never made members,
but they can be property of.

They are there to serve.

-I was property of
Southwest San Antonio Chapter.

I was a piece of property.

I was like a motorcycle.

I never knew I could say no,
and I was okay with that.

-They have an identity.
They have a purpose.

They can carry out some
of the orders of the gang

and rise up in rank.

-Tara gets a rude awakening
on Bandido life.

-For the first year,
and this is a bylaw,

everything belongs to the club.

They will take everything
out of your house,

your tool shed, your, you know,
garage,

pretty much take
whatever they want.

-Tara runs the escort
service and deals drugs,

giving her easy access to meth.

-Well, I did a lot of drugs.

Back then, it was crank,
suitcases full of it.

I would do the drops
and the pickups.

I didn't make money.
[ Chuckles ]

The club made money.

-Dealing meth is big business.

The drugs come from Mexico,

worth an estimated $600 million
on the street.

-The Bandidos got a better
deal when buying bulk narcotics

because they had
the organization behind them.

They were a known commodity,
a known organization,

so there was no risk
to their supplier

that they would be ripped off
or turned into the police.

-The drug money funds
Bandido activities,

including a large cut

that goes to chapter
president John Portillo.

-Drug dealing eventually
gets to the national chapter.

John would send people
over to pick up the money.

He knew how many calls
I would take the girls on.

-In 2001,

when a Bandido is shot and
killed outside a billiards club,

the Bandidos are out for blood.

-They made T-shirts that said,
"Cut one, we all bleed."

They conducted
their own investigation

and then concocted a plan
to retaliate.

-The club learns
the killer is a member

of the Two Six gang
named Robert Lara.

That's when Corky asked Tara
to undertake a deadly mission,

one that will lead to disaster.

-Andrew said,

"We really need to get those
people that got my brother.

Will you do that, baby?
Do you love me, baby?"

And I said, "Yeah, I love you.
I can bring him to you."

-Tara agrees
to infiltrate the Two Six gang

by sleeping with Robert Lara.

-I was the decoy.

Nobody anticipated me to be with
the Bandido motorcycle club.

-She did that over
the course of several months,

including getting romantically
involved with Robert Lara.

-Robert broke down and he told
me, "I killed a Bandido."

I acted like I had no idea
and he just started crying.

-But after months
of gaining Lara's trust,

Tara finds out that Two Six
gang members

have been tipped
off to her Bandido connection

and plan to kill her.

She goes to John Portillo.

-I was going to die
that Friday.

That was for sure.

John said,
"They're going to kill you?"

And I said,
"Yes, they're going to kill me."

And then he said,
"Okay. We'll take care of it."

-The Bandidos hash out a plan.

Tara will lure Robert Lara to a
rest stop south of San Antonio.

-I knew this would be
this guy's last day.

I bought him the best beer
he wanted.

We were kind of drunk,
at that point, you know?

A lot of time went by.

I kept thinking, like,
"When are these people coming?"

Then, out of nowhere,
the passenger door opens,

they rip him out, and he's like,
"Don't hurt her.

Don't hurt her."

I still remember that.

And they shot him, I think,
16 times.

-For Tara,
there is no remorse.

-It was either me or him.

I had no conscience.
I was just a soldier.

-Bandidos involved in the
murder are rewarded with patches

that say, "Expect No Mercy."

The patch is said
to be given to any member

who has drawn
or spilled blood for the club.

-That patch is famous.

If you're wearing it,
you would owe to the club.

You had to make that choice.

If I had that day back,
I'd give the patch back.

-John Portillo and
Jeff Pike's reputations

are locked in,

and Tara is made
an official chapter girl.

-John was like,
"You scare me."

He goes, "I'm going to call
you Buffy the Vampire Slayer."

He's like,
"We really appreciate this."

-As thanks,

she's given permission
to get a Bandidos tattoo.

-The tattoo is located
on my right hip

and it is about six inches
in diameter.

-That's a big deal
in their world

because you're not permitted
to have Bandidos tattoos

if you're not a member,

which kind of showed
their appreciation

for what she had done for them.

-I felt very privileged,
you know?

I thought it was pretty cool.

I'd never seen a Bandido tattoo
on a girl. [ Chuckles ]

-And so that was
her reward for participating

in this gangland hit.

-Law enforcement knows
the Bandidos are behind the hit,

but they can't prove it.

-I had nothing.

I was never
on an insurance policy.

I never had a house

or a phone number in my name,
anything.

I was, like --
lived off the grid.

That was a problem for the feds.

-So Pike and Portillo
continue their rise.

Pike's behind the scenes, while
Portillo works the cameras.

-We are not
a criminal organization.

If a brother is caught dealing
dope or anything illegal,

that's individual achievement.

He's on his own.
We don't condone that.

-Portillo was there to take
some of the heat off of Pike,

that Pike was the mastermind
behind

some of these enterprises,

and that Portillo was there
to take the brunt off of him

in terms of media
and public-facing understanding.

-This is the 21st century.

We know we can't live like that,
anymore.

Most of us are all businessmen
or have jobs.

-You know, I never
had to worry about riding around

and getting shot at
or stupidity happening

because you had two adults
that were in charge of the club.

John and Jeff both
kept the lunatics in their boxes

so stupid things didn't happen.

-The club's success hinges
on growing their numbers.

There's money
to be made on the streets

through drug trafficking
and prostitution.

-One of the things
that they really vie for

is this international presence

because their main trade is
drug trafficking.

-That includes shoring
up an unholy alliance

with a prison gang,

one that controlled
the drug trade in Texas.

-The Texas Mexican Mafia is
a Texas prison gang formed

in San Antonio in the late-'80s.

They charge anybody
that traffics narcotics

in San Antonio
what's called the dime,

which is a 10%
extortion payment.

Well, the Bandidos had
an arrangement

with the Texas Mexican Mafia
and their leadership

where their members
that dealt narcotics

didn't have to pay the 10%
dime to the Texas Mexican Mafia.

-By 2005,

Jeff Pike is poised
to make a move

on then Bandido
president George Wegers.

That year, Wegers trips up
and Pike pounces.

Wegers appears in a TV
documentary about the Bandidos.

Pike explodes.

When Wegers goes down
on a RICO charge,

Jeff Pike becomes the new
president of the Bandidos.

-This is strange in retrospect
because Pike, himself,

gave several interviews.

-Do you think of yourself
as an outlaw?

-[ Laughs ]

I haven't broken a law
in decades.

I don't know what
you're talking about.

-It's only a matter of time

before Pike and Portillo's
leadership is challenged.

In a small farming village,

a power struggle leads
to a slaughter,

one that pits brother
against brother

and opens up an old wound
with the Hells Angels.

-On a small farm
in the middle of nowhere,

a power play is about
to go south.

Canada had long been considered
off-limits to the Bandidos.

It was Hells Angels territory.

But many of the Hells Angels
rejects

still wanted to join a club.

-A lot of the people
who became part of the Bandidos

were not accepted
into the Hells Angels.

So they felt slighted

and this was an opportunity
to join another group

that was just as dangerous,
just as powerful.

-They're going to either
recruit those support clubs

to form allegiance
to the Bandidos

or they're going to take them
by force.

-President Jeff Pike thinks
the Toronto chapter

is getting sloppy
and isn't pulling its weight.

-There was internal battling
between these two factions

to take control of
the Bandidos in Canada for good.

The Bandidos in Toronto
were not paying their dues.

They didn't have
operating bikes.

They're using drugs,
so they are going to be sloppy

in terms of organized crime.

They're not being careful
about what they're doing.

-Things get worse when
it looks like a Bandido

steals
a Hells Angels' drug stash.

-A tow truck driver
may have picked up a car

in which there was coke from
the Hells Angels in the trunk.

So when he opened that up,

he may have taken the coke out

and that could have led
to some of what happened.

-It all comes to a head
that April.

Pike expels Toronto
chapter president John Muscadere

and all of his members, ordering
them to give up their patches.

Muscadere refuses
and makes a bad call.

He sends an e-mail to chapters
worldwide calling for a vote.

-Jeff Pike basically responded
and said, "Bandidos don't vote.

You do what you're
[bleep] told."

-Disobeying club leaders,

the Toronto chapter launches
into full-fledged mutiny.

They call themselves
the No Surrender Crew.

So a Bandido named
Wayne Kellestine, AKA Weiner,

steps in to clean up the mess.

-We have a small problem here.

Oh, my [bleep] God.

I look like I just climbed out

of a [bleep]
hillbilly [bleep] convention.

-Weiner's rap sheet is
a mile long --

assault,
drugs, and arms dealing.

He's got a swastika mowed into
the grass on his farm to boot.

-That is the most beautiful
flag in the world right there.

I love that flag.

-On the night of April 7,
2006,

Weiner makes his move,

inviting the No Surrender Crew
over

for an official club meeting
known to bikers as church.

-They came completely
unprepared,

had no idea that they were going
to be lambs to the slaughter.

-The night is full
of heavy drinking, dancing,

and singing the German
national anthem...

-♪ Deutschland, Deutschland,
uber alles Duetschland ♪

-...before Weiner suddenly
pulls out a gun

and starts to kill
his former members

in an execution assembly line.

Muscadere, once Weiner's
good friend, asks to go first.

-Muscadere was quite defiant
the whole way along

and he kept saying
to Kellestine,

"Go ahead, just shoot me.

Shoot me in the head."

[ Gunshots ]

-One of the members
was Jewish.

They made him wait
till the end to be killed

so he could see
all the others murdered first.

-That was torturous.

-Police are tipped
off to four abandoned vehicles

in a field outside of Shedden.

-"CTV News" has learned

that police have converged
on a property said

to be associated with bikers.

-You've got these eight bodies

and they've been placed
in various cars

with the hatchbacks open
so the bodies are fully exposed.

They wanted to pin these murders
on the Hells Angels.

-But when police discover
the bodies,

they find evidence of
the No Surrender Crew

entering Wiener's farm and
never leaving.

-It was not a
very well-conceived plan.

-Within days, five Bandidos,
including Wiener, are in cuffs.

-Fellow Bandidos members are
charged with first-degree murder

in what police describe
as "internal cleansing"

by the biker gang.

-After an exhausting
seven-month trial,

Kellestine and the rest
were convicted of a total

of 44 counts
of first-degree murder

and four counts of manslaughter.

-It's never proven that Jeff
Pike condoned the executions,

but the bad publicity leads
him to walk away from Canada.

-I think Pike wanted to wash
his hands of Canada,

wanted to be done with it.

-And Jeff said, "Unh-unh."

I mean, you know,
they keep on doing that,

that's going to put us on
Homeland Security's watch list,

and once you're on that,
you ain't getting off of it.

And we're not doing anything.

We don't operate our club
that way.

So there was a decision
to separate.

-By late-2006,

Pike and Portillo
had achieved the unthinkable --

the club had overtaken
the Hells Angels in numbers

and were the largest
biker gang in the world.

Roughly 2,000 members
in 16 states

and another 1,400 members
worldwide.

But to the Bandidos,
there's no place like home.

-Texas was the most
important state to the Bandidos.

It was where they were formed
and it was the only state

that there was no other
one-percent

outlaw motorcycle organization.

And they defended it.

-Territory is very important.

That's the way
you earn something

and make a name for yourself,
right?

-And if you disrespect them
where they live,

you'll feel the pain.

-Anthony Benesh was shot and
killed in front of his children

as he left an Austin
pizza restaurant.

-Surveillance video shows
his girlfriend and sons

running for help.

-Prosecutors say
the Bandidos did not want

a rival gang to diminish
their power and territory.

-Benesh was a member
of the Hells Angels

who was trying
to start a branch in Texas

and had been warned by Bandidos
members to cease that activity.

-The hit has Bandidos
written all over it.

-It sounds like Anthony Benesh
was making a number of enemies

in a number of places.

-Evidence of who sanctioned
Benesh's move points right

to the Hells Angels president,
Sonny Barger.

-Sonny Barger had kind of
given them informal approval

to do it to the extent of,
"Well, go ahead and do it.

We're going to deny
that we gave you approval.

But if you survive in a year,
we may own up to it."

-Jeff Pike and John Portillo
skate on the murder,

but they're now
on law enforcement's radar.

-During Jeff Pike's tenure,

there was a patch going around
the Bandidos that was Omerta.

The word has its origins in
the Italian Mafia's

code of silence --

do not talk, do not cooperate
with law enforcement --

and members would wear
that patch.

-And as far
as the secrecy of the club,

why do you need to know?

The more we show you, the more
you're going to find bad in it.

-We have instances
of John Portillo

driving three and a half hours
over to Jeff Pike's house

north of Houston

for less than a
10-minute conversation

seeking approval for assaults

before he'd just drive
back over on his motorcycle.

-I've heard,

"Hey, why don't you and you go
over to such-and-such's house,

you know,
tonight around midnight,

and go tell him the facts
of life."

-Law enforcement looks into
unsolved murders

to pin on the club,

like the assassination of
Two Six gang member Robert Lara.

A former Bandido in prison
for murder,

Richard Murla, AKA Scarface,

confesses to taking part
in the gang execution.

Scarface implicates Tara
and John Portillo.

With only one witness
willing to go on record,

Jeff Pike remains a free man,
but Tara's luck runs out.

-The police were
showing pictures of me

to the Two Six nation.

There was a $10,000 reward
on the street to get me.

The FBI came and arrested me.

That was horrible.

-Tara gets picked up
on a drug charge

and lies to the cops,

saying she had
no part in Lara's assassination.

-We had that knowledge
and that suspicion

that she was involved,

and ultimately ended
up prosecuting her federally

for some narcotics violation.

-By 2011, with
Bandidos taking each other out,

the heat from the feds

and war with the Hells Angels
just one misstep away,

a group of Bandidos decide
it's time for Jeff Pike to go.

-When you have anarchy, when
you have division in the ranks,

when you have unrest,

that's just going to topple
that organization.

-After years of mayhem,

backstabbing, and
with law enforcement closing in,

a group of rogue Bandidos decide
President Jeff Pike must go.

-You know, they'd always been
an international organization.

And around that time, Jeff Pike
was unilaterally saying,

"Look, there's going to be a
North and South America Bandidos

and there's going to be
the rest of the world Bandidos.

They wanted to force him
out of power

and take over the presidency
and vice presidency.

-But Pike goes scorched earth.

-Jeff Pike summoned
his national leadership chapter

to a restaurant in Houston,

where they met
and discussed

they all needed to leave the
meeting and make a will

before they responded.

And they did do that.

-Yet again,
it starts with a party.

-They proceeded by saying,

"Hey, we're going to have
a party.

We're coming out."

And when they got to
the party site,

they locked the gates
behind them,

got all of those members
on the ground,

and went down the line and said,
"Who's your president?"

If you answered the presidents
that were out there

that were leading the coup,

you were assaulted
and brutally assaulted, and then

all your Bandidos paraphernalia
was ripped off you and taken.

[ Siren wailing ]

-The coup dies out,
and Jeff Pike and John Portillo

walk away unscathed.

It all hinges on everyone's
silence.

-We saw bumper stickers
that said, you know,

"Snitches are a dying breed."

Not real hidden what
the message is there.

-Secret for a reason, because
that's just the way we all are.

-Just when Pike and Portillo

think they're in the clear,
Waco goes down.

-It was a shootout
that looked like a scene

out of a Quentin Tarantino
movie.

[ Gunshot ]

-In 2016, the feds'
investigation blows sky high.

-A national and state
investigation unsealed today

revealing shocking arrests.

The US Attorney's
Office confirming

that the three top leaders
of the Bandidos gang

have been arrested.

-Law enforcement cuffs leaders
Jeff Pike and John Portillo,

along with Sergeant-at-Arms
Justin Forster.

There's no mention of Twin Peaks
in the charges.

Instead, they focus on the way

club infighting
was being handled.

-Their list of charges
is not short.

Aiding in crimes
through racketeering,

which include murder, robbery,
drug trafficking, and extortion.

-While prosecutors
are building their case

against the club's top brass,

the first Bandido goes to trial
in the Waco shootout --

Jake Carrizal,
president of the Dallas chapter.

-Introduce yourself for us.

-Christopher Jacob Carrizal.

-Carrizal is caught on
a surveillance camera

firing shots outside
the Twin Peaks restaurant.

-Did you go to Twin Peaks
that day to hurt anybody?

-No.

-Did you go there
to pick a fight?

-Absolutely not.

-He didn't do anything wrong.

Defend himself,
defend his brothers.

-After 14 hours,
the jury's deadlocked.

The judge declares a mistrial.

Jake Carrizal walks.

-There wasn't enough evidence
that the Dallas chapter,

and specifically, Jake Carrizal,

had committed any violence
against any person

that wasn't self-defense.

And so today is a victory.
Today is a victory.

-Meanwhile,

the feds are working
the case against Jeff Pike

and John Portillo.

-The US Attorney General's
Office accused Pike

of ordering Portillo
to carry out a number

of criminal activities
on behalf of the Bandidos.

-Then out of nowhere, a break.

Of all things,
it's from a Christmas card.

-When we ran a search warrant
on John Portillo's house

in 2015,

we uncovered Christmas
cards dating back decades.

The Southwest San Antonio
Chapter of the Bandidos

had sent
out a Christmas card that year,

which was just one month
before Robert Lara was murdered.

Well, in that chapter photo,
you can see the four guys

that were named as having
been involved in the murder

clearly didn't have

"Expect No Mercy" patches
on the front of their vests.

Photos we obtained elsewhere
showed

that two months after
the murder of Robert Lara,

all of those members
were now wearing

"Expect No Mercy" patches.

The witness testimony told us
they got patches

for the murder of Robert Lara
lined up

and was supported
by that photographic evidence.

-The feds still need
a closer for their case,

which includes
the shooting death

of Two Six gang member
Robert Lara.

Chapter girl Tara is floored
when the feds come knocking.

-The same federal agents
that were in my life

back then came to my apartment
now.

I didn't open the door
for three days.

I was super-paranoid.

I thought I was going to prison
forever

because they had
just arrested John.

However, that's
not what they were there for.

-The feds are ready
to cut a deal.

They want Tara to turn on
Jeff Pike and John Portillo

and take the Bandidos
leadership down for good.

-Chapter girl Tara agrees
to testify in the case

against Pike and Portillo.

-I felt loved.

That was a very big
grieving part of my life

when I testified

because I knew
that the reason that I testified

was I knew it wasn't a good life
for me and the only way

that I would not go back
around them is if I testified.

-After a three-month trial,

the jury finds leaders
Jeff Pike and John Portillo

guilty on all counts.

-The verdict is now in.

Two top former Bandidos,

national president Jeffrey
Faye Pike

and ex-vice president John
Xavier Portillo found guilty

in a 13-count indictment.

-Jeff Pike receives
a life sentence plus 10 years.

John Portillo is sentenced
to two consecutive life terms

plus 20,

assuring
that he will die in prison.

-Why anybody would
want to be a national boss,

you know, because what's law
enforcement going to do when,

you know,
they're trying kill a snake?

They're going to cut off
the head, right?

Whoever's the big boss
in charge is the one

that's going to get caught
with the broom in their hand.

-Eric Fuchs takes
a victory lap for the press.

-Well, I'm obviously pleased
with the verdict.

It was the result of a lengthy,
complex investigation.

-Do you think
this sends a message

to other organized crime out
there that there's consequences?

-It should.

-Four years after Waco,
the DA drops a bombshell.

-In a shocking decision,

the McLennan County District
Attorney, Barry Johnson,

has announced
he is dropping charges in all 24

of the remaining
Twin Peaks cases.

-It's just not right.
It's not right what's happening.

-I don't know of
any other incident in the world

where 177 people were arrested,
nine people died, 20 injured,

and no one was held accountable.

-I think you have a lot
of individuals

that quite frankly got away
with murder,

and, you know,
walked away from it,

and has empowered them
to continue to act

in that manner in the future.

-No one got justice that day.

-The families
of those nine deceased

are never going to have
closure about what happened,

about who's responsible.
It's a tragedy.

-Losing a brother
is very hard.

It takes a toll on everybody
in different ways.

-In the Waco aftermath and
jail time of Bandido leaders,

many think the gang
will fade away.

But some say they've
only gotten better at hiding

how they do business.

-Being able to arrest
the leader

of an organization is great.

Unfortunately, you're
not going to destroy

the entire membership.

They will just replace
that person with someone else.

-Scratch is no longer
a Bandido.

After he disrespected a club
member and for legal reasons,

he's considered out good
by the gang.

-Legal troubles put me
into a no-contact situation.

I'm not allowed
to go around the club

until my court case is seen
and heard, and good or bad.

As far as the -- I did
something wrong, it happens.

I'm okay with that.

But in the best club like that,

you do something wrong,
you pay a price.

-Members that leave,
bad or good,

give up all gang property,
including patches and tattoos.

Scratch's one-percenter tattoo
has been covered with a grenade.

-Remove it, cover it up,

or they will come have
a good, long talk with you

and make sure you understand
it's supposed to not be there.

It doesn't belong to me.

And I knew
that when I put it on.

-If I were to be asked,
you know,

to be a club member today,
hell no,

because I don't know
who's in charge.

I don't trust them.

-They've had to morph
into much more sophisticated

organized crime structures.

They get the gangs
on the streets

to do a lot of their
dirty work for them,

much like the Mafia would.

-You know,
the club's in a much worse place

and it's much more dangerous

without those two men
at the helm.

When you don't have
the big guys around that,

you know, keep the hands
on the reins, you know,

sometimes you get
the cockroaches

that come up from
underneath the refrigerator.

-How much revenue the club
pulls in

is a closely-guarded
secret.

-They have members involved in
some kind of criminal activity,

so they're all funneling
their sources

into this huge Bandido nation
is what they're calling it.

-The Bandidos have built
a global criminal syndicate

with up to 2,500 members
across 13 countries,

and with expansion,
mayhem follows.

-Homicide detectives
have arrested a fourth person

over the execution-style murder

of senior Bandidos bikie
Shane De Britt,

allegedly sparked by a feud
between rival crime groups.

-Now, in the evolution
of the club,

they have become
so sophisticated and organized.

It's a very dangerous thing.

-The true Bandido
body count is unknown.

-I think it's hard
to put a number on, you know,

how many people have
been murdered by the Bandidos

throughout their history.

It's a lot.

What's probably even more
damning is the amount of lives

that have been ruined
by this organization.