Authorities in Stanislaus County arrested four men and seized drugs, a stockpile of firearms and ammunition and material to make bombs as part of a months-long investigation into outlaw motorcycle clubs in the region, law enforcement officials announced last week.
The probe into the motorcycle clubs began last year following acts of violence stemming from a dispute between dozens of rival Hells Angels, Salida Nomads and Mongol members, according to the Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Department. Authorities declined to elaborate on what the violence entailed and what may have prompted the fight since the investigation is ongoing.
On Feb. 28, law enforcement executed 12 search warrants, raiding locations across San Joaquin, Stanislaus and Tuolumne counties including a Hells Angels clubhouse in downtown Stockton, said Sgt. Luke Schwartz.
They siezed 50 firearms, ammunition, gun silencers, paraphernalia that contained the clubs’ names, narcotics and material to make explosives, the Sheriff’s Department wrote in a news release.
Four Modesto men — Vincent Ball, 62, Anthony Vincent Soria, 37, Alfeiri Mishell Taneiya, 26, and Emilio Diaz Martinez, 35 — who authorities allege are affiliated with motorcycle clubs, were taken into custody. They were arrested on suspicion of possession of a steroid, an assault weapon, a silencer and narcotics as well as manufacturing and selling metal knuckles and being a felon in possession of a firearm, according to the news release.
This story originally appeared on LA Times
