Original subtitles

[♪]

Gangs rule their territories through ruthless enterprises,

fear,

and a strict code.

Deviate from this code

or challenge their power...

and retribution soon follows...

especially in one of the most violent biker gangs

in history...

the Mongols Motorcycle Club.

Here are three stories

that forge the fearsome reputation of this vicious gang.

First, the Mongols wage a brutal war over California

with the Hells Angels.

[Droban] They were murderers.

They were willing to do whatever it took.

[Narrator] Next, an ATF agent risks his life

to infiltrate the gang and bring it down.

He said, "If I put a bullet in the back of your head,

nobody's going to know where to start looking for you."

[Narrator] And finally,

years of bad blood with their oldest rivals

reaches a boiling point inside a crowded casino.

It was a lot of carnage, a lot of blood.

It was just chaos.

[Narrator] These are the stories

from inside the Mongols Motorcycle Club.

This is Gangland Chronicles.

1969.

Montebello, California.

[sirens wailing]

Police are on the alert

for a new menace on L.A. County highways.

It's an outlaw motorcycle gang called the Mongols.

The Mongols really formed

during the height of the Vietnam War.

[Narrator] Returning stateside,

some vets miss the rush of combat.

So what's going to substitute for that?

Being an outlaw gangster

gets about as close to it as it can be.

[Narrator] Many of these vets returning home to California

line up to join the state's most infamous biker gang...

the Hells Angels...

but the Angels tell one group they're not welcome.

[Queen] Because they were Latino,

there are stories

about the Hells Angels not letting them in.

[Narrator] These new outlaws

start their own gang, the Mongols...

and their logo puts the world on notice.

Their center patch

is kind of like Genghis Khan on a chopper.

[Droban] It personified who the Mongols were.

They used violence as part of their lifestyle.

[Queen] They say, "This is who we are.

I just got back from a war.

You want another one?

Let's go."

[Narrator] During the 1970s,

the gang's members rack up hefty rap sheets

stealing motorcycles, selling guns,

and committing random assaults on whoever crosses them.

Their rage is fueled by the gang's drug of choice.

These guys are doing methamphetamine all the time.

They'd stay up all night long.

[Narrator] Soon, the Mongols aren't just doing meth,

they're dealing it.

In the late 1970s,

California police estimate a single pound

to have a street value of just over $11,000,

nearly $60,000 today.

[Cook] From a street level standpoint,

putting that drug out,

you're going to make a lot of money,

because there is an endless supply of customers.

[Narrator] The gang traffics the drug

across a network of new chapters

that spring up throughout Southern California

in what will become

a multi-million-dollar criminal enterprise.

As the Mongols expand their California foothold,

it's only a matter of time before they run up against

the state's original outlaw biker gang,

the Hells Angels,

igniting a turf war.

1977.

The Mongols add a California patch

called a bottom rocker

to their gang colors.

Putting that on

was a direct affront to the Hell's Angels,

that we're claiming this area now too.

[Droban] They're vying for territory,

because they are trying

to be not only the dominant biker gang,

but the dominant in their drug trade.

[Narrator] The Angels demand

that the Mongols remove "California" from their colors.

[Queen] You're talking a bunch of Vietnam veterans,

bad-asses and stuff,

and they're not going to bend to the Hells Angels,

and they said, "Bring it on."

[Narrator] The feud between the two gangs

comes to a head on California's Interstate 15.

September 5, 1977.

Two Mongols, Raymond "Jingles" Smith

and Emerson "Redbeard" Morris,

are cruising south from Los Angeles.

[DeLoretto] Jingles and Redbeard

were coming back from a Mongol event,

heading back to San Diego, where they were from,

and a car pulled up next to 'em.

[Narrator] What happens next starts a war.

[automatic gunfire]

September 5, 1977.

Southern California.

A suspicious car pulls up alongside two Mongols

as they cruise down the highway.

Jingles and Redbeard were going down south

on the 15 freeway in San Diego.

[automatic gunfire]

[Santillan] A car rolled up

and just sprayed 'em with a machine gun,

and they passed away.

[Narrator] The Hells Angels have declared

full-scale war on the Mongols.

[explosion]

There was a lot of car bombings

back and forth in that era,

and a lot of shootings back and forth.

[automatic gunfire]

It was just tit for tat for years after that.

I mean, we were just blowing up each other.

[gunfire]

[Narrator] Throughout the conflict,

the Mongols have a standing order.

If you can catch a Hells Angel out by himself somewhere,

you have to kill that Hells Angel.

[Narrator] It's a ruthless policy

that will attract unwanted attention

to the gang's operations.

January 17, 1982.

Lemon Grove, California.

A group of Mongols including Scott "Junior" Ereckson

parties at The Horseshoe Tavern.

Ereckson spots a man wearing a tell-tale ring,

a Death's Head worn only by Hells Angels.

This isn't just any low-ranking Hell's Angel, though.

This is actually the Sergeant-at-Arms

of the San Diego Chapter,

Raymond "Fat Ray" Piltz.

[Narrator] Ereckson sees his chance...

and moves in for the kill.

[Jarroush] During the scuffle,

Ereckson's gun falls out and falls to the floor.

[gunfire]

Junior Ereckson dumped some bullets in him

and killed him on the spot.

[Narrator] Junior Ereckson takes a plea deal

and goes to prison for manslaughter.

But the fallout doesn't end there.

Killing Fat Ray in a crowded bar

brings major heat down on both gangs,

who have millions of reasons to avoid it.

[Jarroush] The Angels have a massive criminal organization.

Likewise, the Mongols also have a criminal enterprise.

So the Angels sit down and start to hash out a plan

to broker a truce with the Mongols.

[Narrator] The Hells Angels agree

to back off on the bottom rocker beef,

as long as the Mongols stick to Southern California

and don't try to open any new chapters

in Hells Angels territory.

You cannot cross over into Northern California

without repercussion.

[Narrator] The truce keeps the Hells Angels at bay...

and the money rolling in.

But in the 1990s,

the Mongols will have a new target on their back,

one the gang fails to see.

March, 1998.

Los Angeles.

The ATF launches "Operation Ivan,"

sending in one of its own to infiltrate the Mongols

and bring the gang down.

The Mongols are involved

in drug manufacture and distribution

and firearms trafficking,

and a lot of violent crime.

[Narrator] Agent Billy Queen goes undercover.

I was riding undercover with the name Billy St. John.

Working my way in took months,

because you just don't go up to the Mongols

and say, "Howdy, how you doing?

I wanna become a Mongol."

[Narrator] Queen knows what's at risk

if his cover is blown.

[Queen] They're going to move in and take care of business.

They're going to kill you.

[Narrator] A month later, Queen is invited

to ride with the gang to a motorcycle rally in Nevada...

[men chanting]

[Narrator] ...where he bunks with a meth-snorting Mongol

named Rocky.

[Queen] He took his big Bowie knife

and cut that bag open,

and then he lined two lines out on the table, of meth.

He put that big Bowie knife in my face,

and he pointed at it,

and he said, "Is that line too much for you?"

[Narrator] ATF agents are forbidden to use drugs,

even undercover,

as it could jeopardize any future case in court.

But if Billy refuses,

Rocky will assume he's a cop and alert the gang...

who will kill him.

April, 1998.

Undercover ATF agent Billy Queen

has just been offered meth by a Mongol biker.

If he refuses to do it, the gang will kill him.

Queen has to think fast.

[Queen] I was able to roll up a bill

over top of that line

and wipe that line off in my hand

and into the floor where Rocky couldn't see it.

And Rocky patted me on the back.

Hey, yeah! Come on, let's party, dude!

Let's party!

[Narrator] A few months later,

Queen makes a major breakthrough.

[Queen] The president of the San Fernando Valley chapter

came up to me and said, "Billy, we want you to be a Mongol."

But I was told that I was going to have to prove to them

that I could shoot a gun.

[Narrator] But on arrival at a remote gun range,

the Mongols' national Sergeant-at-Arms,

Donald "Red Dog" Jarvis, confronts Queen.

Red Dog started getting in my face,

saying, "You're a [bleep] cop."

I said, "Red Dog, I ain't no cop."

Then Red Dog said,

"So if I put a bullet in the back of your head,

nobody's going to know where to start looking for you.

Is that right, Billy?"

I said, "That's right, Red Dog."

And then he said, "Go out there and set some targets up for us."

[Narrator] Queen continues to maintain his composure...

I put up with whatever I had to put up with.

[Narrator] And his efforts eventually pay off.

October 1999.

After six months of high-risk undercover work,

Billy Queen is made a full member

of the San Fernando Mongols,

and he's unexpectedly handed an important job in the chapter.

[Queen] The president came to me one day, and he said,

"I'm going to make you an officer."

You're going to be the secretary/treasurer."

[Narrator] As a treasurer,

Queen will have full access

to the Mongols' accounting records.

[Queen] They kept books

that showed their criminal activities...

selling dope or selling guns or stealing motorcycles.

[Narrator] For the next six months,

Queen collects highly detailed evidence against the Mongols,

until law enforcement has enough to make its move.

May 19, 2000.

[sirens wailing]

Shortly after dawn,

700 agents raid locations across Southern California.

54 Mongols are arrested on charges

ranging from drug and gun trafficking offenses

to murder.

As a result of his efforts, he brings down this chapter,

and he brings down the leadership,

and they get indicted and convicted.

[Narrator] The arrests decimate the Mongols' ranks...

but instead of being

the final nail in the coffin for the gang,

they increase their recruiting efforts.

The international president at that time was Doc Cavazos,

and he was really pushing a kind of a recruitment drive.

He'd helped a San Jose chapter of the Mongols

start in northern California.

[Narrator] But this doesn't sit well

with their former rivals.

The Hells Angels, they're upset with us

because we started moving up north into their backyard.

[Narrator] This violates the terms of the agreement

between the Mongols and the Hells Angels,

so after 20 years of relative peace,

the two gangs are once again heading for a showdown.

April 27, 2002.

Laughlin, Nevada.

An estimated 80,000 bikers roar into the city

for the annual River Run Motorcycle Rally.

Among them are dozens of members

of both the Mongols

and their long-time rivals, the Hells Angels.

2:00 a.m.

Inside Harrah's Casino, a confrontation is brewing

between an estimated 40 Mongols and 60 Hells Angels.

[Droban] People in the casino

are starting to get really nervous

when they see these two groups

sort of mad-dogging each other and eyeing each other.

[Santillan] It was becoming an issue.

We knew that something was going to kick off.

[Narrator] The Mongols and Hells Angels

are just one blow away from reigniting a war.

April 27, 2002.

Laughlin, Nevada.

40 Mongols have squared off against 60 Hells Angels

in a crowded casino,

itching to throw down.

Leaders from both sides

make a last-ditch attempt to defuse the situation.

When the Hells Angels entered Harrah's,

and, you know, basically confronted the Mongols,

there was conversation going on to talk the situation down.

[Santillan] We were talking,

the talks were going good,

and next thing you know, a Hells Angel threw a kick,

and the melee started.

[Narrator] Harrah's Casino erupts in a massive brawl.

It was just chaos, full chaos.

[Narrator] The violence quickly escalates.

There's not enough security or law enforcement there

to stop anything.

[Narrator] Both gangs pull knives,

and show no mercy to the other side.

Guns appear, and bullets fly.

Harrah's Casino is now a war zone.

[gunfire]

Helpless bystanders take cover wherever they can

while the two gangs battle it out.

It was a lot of carnage, a lot of blood.

The Mongols were outnumbered.

They stood up for themselves.

They fought back.

The Mongols will defend themselves to the end.

[sirens wailing]

[Narrator] When the dust settles,

two Hells Angels are dead from gunshot wounds,

and one Mongol, Anthony "Bronson" Barrera,

has been stabbed to death.

[Santillan] There are other people

that eventually passed away.

They succumbed to their injuries,

and that a lot of people didn't know.

It wasn't publicized

because it didn't happen on the casino floor,

it happened after.

[Narrator] The Harrah's Casino battle

re-starts the war between the Mongols and Hells Angels,

a conflict that continues to this day.

[Santillan] Today if you see a Hell's Angel

and you're a Mongol,

you confront each other.

That's just the way it is.

It's full-scale right now.

There's too much bad blood,

five decades of going back and forth,

tit for tat.

It'll never be right.

[Queen] And every time you get into it,

it's a life-threatening situation.

You don't know where they're going to pull guns,

and you're going to be involved in a big shootout

like what happened in Laughlin.

[gunfire]

[Narrator] Today, despite efforts by law enforcement,

Mongols membership continues to grow.

As of 2023, there are an estimated 1,200 members

in chapters across the United States.

They're trying to grow quickly in numbers

so that they can then acquire more and more territory.

[Santillan] Now we're in Southeast Asia.

We were in Canada for a while.

We were in Russia, we're in Germany,

you know, we're all over.

[Cook] Now they are in the top eight

of motorcycle gangs worldwide,

so, yeah, they're a very, very formidable group.

[Queen] They're a terrible, violent organization,

and they scare the crap out of people.

They scare the crap out of communities.

They use their colors to do it.

They are outlaws.