Three people from Hawaii are among at least 28 people arrested in Nevada and other states after a four-year undercover investigation that began with a probe of motorcycle gangs dealing drugs and weapons in and around Las Vegas, authorities announced Friday.
State and federal grand juries issued 32 indictments on suspects whom police identified as members of the Vagos, Bandidos and Chosen Few motorcycle gangs, and two Vagos offshoots known as the Green Machine and Wicked Riderz, Las Vegas police officer Bill Cassell said.
"These were violent criminals involved in primarily narcotics trafficking and the sale of illegal firearms," Cassell said. He said the Nevada case sparked spinoff investigations and additional arrests in California, Utah, Arizona, Texas, New York and Hawaii.
The investigation focused on the Vagos gang when it was launched following high-profile clashes between rival Hells Angels and Mongols members, including a deadly 2002 casino shootout during a motorcycle rally in Laughlin and a 2008 wedding chapel brawl in Las Vegas, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported.
The newspaper reported three of the suspects were arrested in Hawaii — Donald Dussell, Victor Ramirez and Edward Chelby — on suspicion of battery and false imprisonment that allegedly happened in Clark County, Nev.
Honolulu Police Department records show Chelby, 53, was arrested on Kalihi Street at 6 a.m. Thursday; Ramirez, 30, was arrested on Nanea Avenue in Wahiawa at the same time; and Dussell, 57, was arrested at 55-135 Kamehameha Highway in Laie at 6:30 a.m. Thursday. All were held pending extradition to Nevada.
Representatives for the local offices of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and U.S. Marshals Service, which reportedly led the local arrest effort, could not be reached for comment Friday. HPD referred questions to ATF.
The 2002 shooting during the Laughlin River Run killed three biker club members and injured more than a dozen other people. The 2008 brawl at A Special Memory Wedding Chapel left six people hurt, including two who were stabbed. Trial is set to start in August for some of the 13 men charged in that case.
U.S. Attorney Daniel Bogden, Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson and Joseph Riehl, special agent in charge of the ATF office in San Francisco, told reporters Thursday that the initial investigation widened after the ATF became involved. They dubbed it "Operation Pure Luck."
In the end, police and federal agents reported seizing 7.5 pounds of methamphetamine, 161 grams of cocaine, 2,000 prescription pills, 43 firearms and $8,100.
