Getty
Rebels, outlaws, misfits, criminals? Whichever label they claim, there is no denying the Hells Angels are one of the most infamous bikie gangs in history.
There has been widespread murder, riots, drug trafficking, extortion and assaults, and yet, the inner workings of the leather-clad club have always been closely guarded.
A new docuseries titled Secrets of the Hells Angels delves into the gang’s dark underworld.
With access to former chapter presidents and undercover police officers who risked their lives, the series ultimately asks: what is the cost of being an Angel?
Special Agent Jay ‘Jaybird’ Dobyns infiltrated the Hells Angels’ Mesa, Arizona chapter until 2003, posing as a gun runner and debt collector. He says the police had “no choice but to investigate” following a fatal shoot-out with rival club, the Mongols, at a casino in Laughlin, Nevada in 2002.
“Some of the major, most violent players at the riot were the Arizona Hells Angels,” Jay, now 62, said.
“As I learnt more about them, I realised I was in over my head … they were operating violently, with impunity.”
He was soon joined by fellow officer Jenna Maguire, who played his girlfriend, a so-called ‘old lady’. For Jay, who had a wife and two children at home, his life was constantly on the line.
“If [they] discovered that we were cops, they would have drawn a straight razor across my throat,” he said.
“The biggest challenge was can you be an undercover agent and maintain your dignity and integrity because it’s constantly being challenged.
“There’s a rail of cocaine on a bar and I’m being told to [consume it]. Then a gun is held to my head.
“You have to make a choice … do you want a bullet in your brain?”
As Jay’s ‘old lady’, Jenna was taught to remain a step behind her man. Not allowed to talk when he talked, she also had to carry his drugs and gun.
Under no circumstances was she to touch the Hells Angel patch.
Jenna adds: “Whether you’re a respected ‘old lady’, or whether you’re at the bottom, or anything in between, we [were] all just property of the Hells Angels.”
The series also highlighted the Hells Angels’ years-long plot to assassinate Mick Jagger.
It involved the Angels floating a rubber pontoon boat filled with explosives out to Mick’s yacht. But the boat flooded and capsized.
The hit was put on the Rolling Stones frontman after the band allegedly snubbed the Hells Angels out of money. The club was hired as their security during a concert in Altamont, California in 1969.
“Jagger coughed up with the dough – well, you know, somebody coughed up with the dough – because the debt was satisfied,” former Ventura chapter president, George Christie, says.
HELLS ANGELS AUSTRALIA: AUSSIE OUTLAWS
Australia’s own criminal underworld grew in 1975 after the introduction of the Hells Angels’ branches to Sydney and Melbourne.
Nearly 50 years on, the club has expanded to 14 chapters and over 250 members across the country.
Hells Angels have been responsible for drug trafficking, armed robbery, arms trafficking and murder-for-hire. This included the 2007 murder of Brendan Keilar in Melbourne, and the 2012 murder of Adelaide man Jason de Ieso.
International networks have allegedly deemed the Australian chapters as a key player in drug shipments into the country.
In 2013, the Hells Angels was among 26 motorcycle clubs named as criminal organisations in Queensland, and in South Australia in 2015.
There has also been attempts to classify it as such in New South Wales. The Hells Angels continue to operate across Northern Territory and Victoria.
WHERE TO WATCH SECRETS OF THE HELLS ANGELS IN AUSTRALIA
You can watch Secrets of the Hells Angels on BINGE.
Stream Secrets of the Hells Angels on BINGE from $10/mth, with a 7-day free trial.
Related stories
Native ad body.
Native ad body.
Native ad body.
