The Mongols Motorcycle Club is considered a motorcycle gang by law enforcement and intelligence agencies in various countries internationally.Fear of turf war between Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs in Europe Europol (21 December 2012) Mongols OMCG targeted as part of National Day of Action Australian Federal Police (4 December 2020) Mongols members have a long history in the illegal drugs trade (especially methamphetamine), money laundering, robbery, extortion, firearms violations, murder, and assault, among other crimes. However, senior Mongols members as well as attorneys for the club deny that the group as a whole is a criminal enterprise and claim that the Mongols' bylaws prohibit criminals and drug users from being members.We come in peace, say Mongols Adam Shand, Sydney Morning Herald (6 March 2011)
Australia The Mongols expanded into Australia in 2013, establishing three chapters on the Central Coast of New South Wales. Peter "Chop" Emerton was the founder of the Mongols in Australia and first national president of the club in the country.US Mongols 'patch over' Australian Finks gang Nick Ralston and Rory Callinan, The Sydney Morning Herald (14 October 2013) Inside the bikie clubhouse that's a smoke-free zone with exercise and anti-ageing machines Yoni Bashan, The Daily Telegraph (19 October 2013) In October 2013, a deal was brokered to "patch over" the Finks ahead of a proposed ban on the Finks under anti-gang legislation in Queensland.Mongol invasion: Inside the most powerful bikie gang in Australia Candace Sutton, news.com.au (27 October 2013) An estimated 90% of the Finks' members joined the Mongols. The Mongols' "patch over" of the Finks was the largest ever motorcycle club amalgamation in Australia, and made the club one of the most powerful bike gangs in the country, with a membership of around 400 and chapters in New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, South Australia and Western Australia. The club is designated an outlaw motorcycle gang (OMCG) by the Australian Federal Police.
Queensland Following the 12 October 2020 assassination of senior Finks bikie Shane Bowden in Pimpama, police visited all known Mongols members on the Gold Coast seeking information on Bowden's killing. Bowden had "patched over" to the Mongols from the Finks in 2013 but was expelled from the club in "bad standing" for bashing a fellow member and rejoined the Finks shortly before his death. The Mongols were reportedly concerned by Bowden's recruitment of new members into the Finks, and police theorised that he was killed over a dispute between the clubs.
A turf war between the Mongols and the Finks in South East Queensland subsequently broke out following Bowden's death, involving firebombings and bashings. On 5 June 2021, a barber shop in Windaroo was targeted in an arson attack. Mongols and Finks bikies were then involved in a brawl at the Australia Fair shopping centre in Southport on 7 June 2021. Police discovered documents suggesting that chapters of both clubs located between Logan and the Queensland border with New South Wales were acting on "attack on site" orders following the arrest of a Mongols national-level office bearer who was allegedly involved in the Australia Fair brawl.
Germany A German chapter of the Mongols MC was founded in Bremen by members of the local crime syndicate run by Lebanese immigrants in 2010. It was the first time that a Muslim clan-based crime syndicate in Germany became active in the field of outlaw motorcycle clubs.
Organized crime in Bremen is dominated by the Miri-Clan, a large family of Lebanese origin with more than 10,000 members, who first migrated to Germany beginning in the late 1970s, and rose to national notoriety with a number of large-scale criminal activities in 2010.
According to Andreas Weber, the state of Bremen's chief of criminal investigation, the new Mongols chapter is only nominally a motorcycle group. Clan members do not have motorcycle licences and drive around the city in cars. Presumably, they are interested in associating themselves with the U.S. motorcycle club primarily to profit from their infrastructure and trading channels in drug trafficking. The president of Mongols Bremen, "Mustafa B." accidentally killed himself with his bike as a novice licence holder briefly after the chapter's foundation. He was presumably succeeded by "Ibrahim M.", who is on record with 147 felonies ranging from grievous bodily harm to illegal possession of a weapon.
Local daily newspaper Kölnische Rundschau reports that a further German Mongols chapter has become active in Cologne, which is a traditional Hells Angels area.
Due to the negative publicity garnered by the Mongols in Germany, the club's European parent chapter expelled the German chapters in 2013. The German Mongols chapters refused to accept the expulsion, however, as they recognized the United States "mother chapter" as an authority.Beruchte motorbende Mongols opent chapter in Amsterdam Maarten van Dun, Het Parool (13 November 2014)
In 2016, the last Mongols chapter in Bremen closed.
Netherlands On 11 October 2014, the Mongols announced the opening of a chapter in Amsterdam. The club's Dutch faction was sponsored for membership by the Mongols in Germany.Vicious motorcycle gang Mongols now in Amsterdam NL Times (10 November 2014)
Members of the Mongols and the Hells Angels took part in a mass brawl in the bar of the Van der Valk Hotel in Rotterdam, during which several shots were fired, on the evening of 7 April 2016. The Royal Marechaussee and the Dienst Speciale Interventies attended the scene, and 23 bikers were arrested, some of whom were taken into custody at the hotel while others were apprehended in local parks. A knife and a firearm were seized. One motorcycle gang member suffered a gunshot wound to the leg, and police called it a "miracle" that no hotel staff or guests were injured in the fight.Hells Angels vs Mongols: Shootout in Rotterdam hotel NL Times (8 April 2016) The following day, police seized guns, ammunition, drugs and counterfeit currency during searches of 19 locations, resulting in two men being charged with the prohibited possession of weapons. Another man was arrested on suspicion of attempted aggravated assault and public violence in relation to the melee, on 19 April 2016.Rotterdam - Another arrest in investigation into brawl between Mongols and Hells Angels alarmeringen.nl (19 April 2016)
New Zealand The Mongols were established in New Zealand amidst a wave of motorcycle gang members being deported back to the country from Australia. The club has a membership of approximately 20 in New Zealand.
In January 2020, the Mongols were involved in a turf war with the Mongrel Mob in the Bay of Plenty, which involved semi-automatic weapons, tit-for-tat shootings and arson attacks.
United States The Mongols are one of the largest motorcycle gangs in the United States, with approximately 800 to 850 members and 70 chapters in 19 U.S. states. The club is primarily based on the West Coast and in the Southwest of the country, with the majority of its membership consisting of Hispanic men from the Los Angeles area. The Mongols involved in the transportation and distribution of cocaine, marijuana and methamphetamine, the interstate theft of stolen motorcycles, as well as violent crime including assault, intimidation and murder.
The club is allied with the Mexican Mafia–Sureño coalition, the Nuestra Familia–Norteño alliance, the Nazi Lowriders, and the Tijuana Cartel. Rival gangs include the Bandidos, the Hells Angels, the Iron Order, the Outlaws, and the Vagos.
Arizona The Mongols have four chapters in Arizona.
The club founded a chapter in Tucson in May 1982, which led to a war with an existing chapter of the Dirty Dozen over control of prostitution rackets in the area. The Mongols aligned themselves with the Outlaws, who had established themselves in Tucson in September 1980 when Outlaws leader James "Big Jim" Nolan moved to the city after being paroled in Florida. The Dirty Dozen, in turn, formed an alliance with the Hells Angels. In November 1982, several Mongols were found in possession of weapons when stopped by police while they were serving as bodyguards for Nolan's wife.Organized Crime in America U.S. House Committee on the Judiciary (1983)
California The Mongols are listed as an outlaw motorcycle gang by the Attorney General of California. The club has 47 chapters and between 200 and 350 members in the state, with the highest concentration in Southern California and the San Francisco Bay Area.Organized Crime in California – 2004 Annual Report to the Legislature - California Department of JusticeOrganized Crime in California 2007-08 Edmund G. Brown, Jr., Attorney General of California (2008) Of the approximately 47 motorcycle gangs active in California, the Mongols and Hells Angels are the two largest in membership size. The club is affiliated with the Mexican Mafia and Sureños in Southern California, and the Nuestra Familia and Norteños in Northern California, as well as the Nazi Lowriders.Bigots on Bikes: The Growing Links between White Supremacists and Biker Gangs Anti-Defamation League (September 2011) Supplied by the Tijuana Cartel, the Mongols are involved in the wholesale distribution of cocaine in the Los Angeles area.California Southern District Drug Threat Assessment National Drug Intelligence Center (December 2000) California Central District Drug Threat Assessment National Drug Intelligence Center (May 2001)
Early incidents Members of the Glendale Mongols chapter, along with bikers from the San Bernardino chapter of the Hells Angels, the Straight Satans of Venice, and the Glendale Night Riders, committed a sexual assault on a fifteen-year-old girl in August 1972. On April 5, 1973, Mongols member Ferman Benavides was among eleven motorcycle gang members convicted in Los Angeles of rape and sex perversion.Gang Members Convicted on Rape of Girl The San Bernardino Sun (April 6, 1973) 11 cyclists convicted of rape Long Beach Independent (April 6, 1973)
Ermelindo Garcia, a member of the Mongols' Visalia chapter, was fatally shot twice during a fight with a group of men outside a bowling alley in Delano on August 15, 1974. One senior Mongols member criticized the Delano police after no arrests were made in Garcia's killing, and said that the club had been warned against retaliation. 200 Mongols members formed a mile-long funeral procession as Garcia was buried in a Visalia cemetery on August 19, 1974.200 Bury Slain Biker San Mateo County Times (August 20, 1974)
War against the Hells Angels On March 11, 1977, a large group of Mongols were involved in a mass brawl with nine Hells Angels members at a motorcycle swap meet at the Anaheim Convention Center, during which several Mongol bikers were seriously injured despite outnumbering the Angels. A number of Mongols were arrested by police afterwards, while the Hells Angels contingent was able to escape.
The catalyst for the fight was a dispute between Chester "Bud" Green – a former member of the Richmond Hells Angels chapter who was expelled from the club after testifying against another member in a murder trial and who subsequently joined the Mongols – and a member of the Los Angeles Hells Angels whose ex-wife Green was living with at the time.