Global Outlaws: The Motorcycle Club with 6,000 Members in Nearly 60 Countries

Motorcycles were invented in the late 19th century as a cheaper alternative to the automobile. Not only were they cheaper to produce but they were more affordable. They have improved significantly since then with many now costing as much as cars or even more so. With the evolution of the motorbike also came motorcycle culture and the introduction of such groups as the American Motorcycle Association (AMA) and the Federation of American Motorcyclists. With these groups, eventually arrived the counterculture groups, the global outlaws who defied societal norms.

These global outlaws were, and still are, known as outlaw motorcycle clubs (OMCs), a group defined by the Department of Justice (DOJ) as one whose members use their motorcycle clubs as conduits for criminal enterprises. However, the AMA defines OMCs as any motorcycle club not sanctioned by the AMA and does not adhere to its rules. This leaves a more loose interpretation for groups that don't see themselves as criminal organizations, like the Hells Angels.

Outlaw clubs, like the aforementioned Hells Angels, are often prominent charity givers and are active in various philanthropic events. Many detractors have claimed that these clubs use their charitable gestures to garner sympathy and mask the criminal nature of their organizations. Earlier this year, several outlaw clubs, from California to Ohio, were raided by police, and weapons were discovered in their clubhouses.

To determine a list of global motorcycle outlaw groups, we sourced information from the DOJ and other legal bodies regarding membership and the global influence of outlaw motorcycle clubs. Some on this list were chosen because they have a large number of members, while other entries were chosen because the club has a large scale of influence on the community. (Check out the most powerful gang dynasties in America.)

The Hells Angels Motorcycle Club is an international outlaw motorcycle club. Its members typically ride Harley-Davidson motorcycles. The club is incorporated as Hells Angels Motorcycle Corporation in the United States and Canada. The club's colors are red and white, leading to the prominent nickname "Red & White." Other common nicknames for the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club are the H.A., HAMC, and 81.

At the moment, the club is estimated to have a membership of over 6,000, with 467 charters operating in 59 countries. It is the largest outlaw motorcycle club in the world. Many police and international intelligence agencies—such as Europol, the U.S. Department of Justice, the Criminal Intelligence Service Canada, and the Australian Federal Police—classify the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club as an organized crime syndicate, a claim that the club vehemently denies.

However, the club and its members have been involved in several violent altercations across the world, particularly during feuds with other outlaw motorcycle clubs. The club claims it is simply a collection of Harley-Davidson enthusiasts who have come together under one banner.

The Bandidos or Bandidos Nation is an international outlaw motorcycle club with worldwide membership. The club is estimated to have between 2,000 and 2,500 members and 303 chapters that operate in 22 countries. Based on membership and chapters, the Bandidos are the second-largest outlaw motorcycle club in the world, trailing behind the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club.

Numerous law enforcement and international intelligence agencies classify the Bandidos as an organized crime syndicate. The Bandidos proudly refer to themselves as one-percenters. The term comes from an American Motorcycle Association press release in which the representative stated that "99% of motorcyclists were law-abiding citizens and only 1% cause trouble. You may see Bandidos members wearing 1%-er patches on their vests.

The Bandidos have been involved in numerous criminal investigations, which ultimately led to their classification as a criminal organization. For instance, the second Bandidos president was sentenced to five years for conspiring to bomb the homes and automobiles of members of a rival club. This is just one of many instances where the Bandidos were found in association with a major crime investigation.

While most members, many of whom were Vietnam veterans until recently (when that population aged out of the demographic), are law-abiding citizens, a handful of Bandidos are seasoned criminals.

The Chicanos Motorcycle Club is an international outlaw motorcycle club founded in Pritzwalk, Germany, in 2003. While it is not the biggest club by membership, it is highly influential as a support club for the Bandidos. Support clubs (or puppet clubs, as international crime and intelligence organizations refer to them) are semi-independent clubs that operate alongside a parent club.

Members are considered "part" of the parent club and also independent, depending on the circumstances. Since their founding in Germany, the Chicanos have opened chapters in The Netherlands, Norway, Russia, Serbia, Sweden, Ukraine, and the United Arab Emirates. Chicanos chapters worldwide have been credibly involved in numerous instances of criminal activities and attacks in their operating countries. There have been a great number of arrests of Chicanos members worldwide.

Crimes committed by members include violent assault, rioting, drug crimes, extortion, theft, and even shootings. Further investigation into their activities by authorities reveals that the Chicanos engage in both violent and nonviolent crimes across all chapters, often on behalf of their parent club, the Bandidos. As a result, German officials have banned wearing the Chicanos emblem and other related regalia in public, along with eight other outlaw motorcycle club emblems.

The Outlaws are an aptly named international outlaw motorcycle club. The club was founded in McCook, Illinois, in 1935. It is the oldest OMC in the world. In the United States, the club is incorporated as the American Outlaws Association, commonly referred to as the A.O.A. Currently, it is the third-largest outlaw motorcycle club, behind the Bandidos and the Hells Angels, with 3,000 members across 441 chapters operating in 43 countries.

Like many of the other outlaw motorcycle clubs on this list, international intelligence and crime agencies designate the Outlaws as a criminal organization. The club was founded by Electro-Motive Company employees as they sat at Matilda's Bar. A man named John Davis is usually credited as the founder of the club. Due to the outbreak of World War II, the Outlaws went inactive shortly after forming. They reformed after the war and attended the first major post-war motorcycle rally at Soldier Field in Chicago.

The Outlaws have a long-standing rivalry with the Hells Angels, which has resulted in major violence between the two groups. There have even been deaths on both sides regarding this feud. Additionally, they are also allegedly involved in drug trafficking, extortion, money laundering, prostitution rings, and weapons trafficking.

The Red Devils Motorcycle Club is an international outlaw motorcycle club and the principal support club of the Hells Angels. This club should not be confused with the original Red Devils Motorcycle Club which operated in Canada for a period. The club has chapters in nearly 20 countries. However, it's unknown what the Red Devils estimated membership numbers look like.

Law enforcement and criminal intelligence agencies consider the Red Devils Motorcycle Club to be a criminal organization. The club has been involved in numerous disputes with law enforcement and rival one-percenter motorcycle clubs. Moreover, their alleged crimes included drug trafficking, money laundering, violent assault, shootings, kidnapping, and extortion.

The club was initially founded in Karlstad, Sweden, in 2001. A chapter in Massachusetts emerged onto the outlaw motorcycle club scene the following year. There are now 10 chapters of the club in various provinces in Canada.

The outlaw motorcycle club Cannonball operates primarily in Finland and Estonia. It was founded in Helsinki in 1991 and currently has 11 chapters—10 in Finland and one in Estonia—and over 200 members. Because the club does not have chapters and membership outside of Finland and Estonia, they aren't considered to be a truly international club.

During its initial five years of operation, the club acted as a support club for the Hells Angels. However, the affiliation between the two clubs ended in 1996 and Cannonball became an independent club. The National Bureau of Investigation considers Cannonball MC to be an organized crime syndicate. Their alleged crimes include drug trafficking, financial crimes, and aggravated assault.

In 2021, Finnish prosecutors applied to have Cannonball MC and its puppet club, Squad 31, permanently banned from operating within the country's borders. This ban, if it goes into effect, will be the first of its scope in Finland, as all other previous attempts to curtail OMC activity have been focused on local chapters.

Trust Motorcycle Club was founded in Germany in 1984 as a result of the merging of several independent MCs. The club has 39 German chapters, seven Romanian chapters, and one each in Belgium, Thailand, and Poland, making it an international club. What makes them unique is they were one of the first clubs to drive primarily Japanese motorcycles, which also needed to be at least 600 cubic centimeters to be qualified to join.

This club is the dominant one in the Bavarian motorcycle scene. Additionally, the Bavarian Ministry of the Interior qualifies the Trust MC among the police-relevant MCs. The Trust MC denies any wrongdoing by its members and organization. We were unable to find specific allegations against the club.

The Road Rats are an outlaw motorcycle club established in London in the 1960s. They advertise themselves as being one of the "oldest and toughest motorcycle clubs in the country." However, they are notorious among motorcycle enthusiasts, both outlaw and non-outlaw, because they have fallen out with almost every other motorcycle club in the U.K.

Having few allies and many rivals is typical among OMCs, but having no allies is unusual. Many MCs will fall back on "the enemy of my enemy is my friend." However, when it comes to the Road Rats, few if any clubs will associate with them.

The club emerged as a street gang before transitioning to a motorcycle club. However, they first became notable for clashing with the English Hells Angels chapters and disputes with the Satan's Slaves. These clashes were violent and included a major shooting that occurred on the Chelsea Bridge.

The Pagan's are sometimes simply referred to as the more grammatically correct "The Pagans." The club was founded in 1957 in Prince George's County in Maryland. The club expanded rapidly and quickly became a more stereotypical "one-percenter" club. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) categorizes the group as an outlaw club.

They're known for fighting over gang territory with the Hells Angels and other prominent American MCs. The Pagan's have active chapters in California, Nevada, Delaware, Florida, Kentucky, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, South Carolina, Virginia, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, West Virginia, Washington State, and Puerto Rico.

The club was mostly nonviolent until 1965 when they started engaging in violence against rival clubs. However, an incident in Maryland had the club branded as part of the "1% of motorcyclists who cause problems." Thus, the club decided to lean into the label and adopted the 1%er patch donned by many other OMCs.

Unlike other outlaw motorcycle clubs where the majority of the members are relatively mild people in terms of committing crimes or otherwise objectionable behavior, the Aryan Nations Sadistic Souls is a strictly neo-Nazi club. They are white supremacists who believe in the replacement conspiracy theory and refer to themselves as the "militant arm of the Aryan Nations."

They were formed by an ex-KKK member, Dennis Michael McGiffen, after he finished a seven-year prison sentence for federal weapons charges in 2010. In 2012, the club merged with the Aryan Nations. The club has chapters in Illinois, Oklahoma, Missouri, Wisconsin, Florida, Pennsylvania, Alabama, Ohio, Tennessee, Australia, the United Kingdom, and New Zealand.

The Aryan Nations Sadistic Souls prominently uses and displays Wehrmacht insignias. They use symbols such as the Totenkopf, Reichsadler, doppelte Siegrune, and the Nationalflagge on their regalia. (Here's a look at the 33 most infamous criminal gangs in America.)