German Police Carry Out Raid Against Biker Groups Over 3 Killings

Several apartments including a clubhouse belonging to the Hells Angels were subjected to raids on Thursday by German police. The search was carried out in Duisburg, Moenchengladbach, Leverkusen and Muelheim an der Ruhr by tactical operations units and hundreds of police and riot officers in connection with three murders that took place nearly a decade ago.

According to DW News, properties belonging to members of Hells Angels Germany have been searched in a crackdown seven years after the brutal murders. The raids targeted around 80 properties including brothels and pubs resulting in the arrest of two individuals who are now in custody.

Prosecutors said the biker gang has been linked to two killings in 2013. Some members have also been implicated to be involved in the dismemberment of a former member in 2014.

The 2014 case came to light when a passerby discovered a severed and tattooed arm in the Rhine River after which a torso was found floating in the river two months later. The victim was said to have been shot by fellow members of the biker gang because of his association with the police.

Authorities said the crackdown was the result of years of investigative work breaking down the "segregated structures of organized rocker crime." Other suspected crimes pinned on the biker gang include people and arms trafficking, alleged cases of bodily harm and corruption.

Counter-terror police also raided the house of the Hells Angels chapter leader in Hanover with the investigation honing in on a prominent member of the biker gang in Oberhausen. Their main suspect is believed to have fled the country.

German newspapers said police are also tracking down a corpse of an ethnic Turkish man who was killed because he annoyed the bikers.

The reputed motorcycle club is the world's largest gang in terms of membership. It has often been linked to organized crime like drug trade, illegal weapons trade and prostitution. The Hells Angels club is one of the four major motorcycle gangs in Germany. The German chapter was founded in Hamburg in 1973 and has long been considered associated with violent crimes in the country. The US Department of Justice lists Hell's Angels as an organized crime syndicate.

The Hells Angels chapter in the northern city of Kiel, Germany received a court order to be closed earlier this year.