Hells Angels, Bandidos, Satudarah and No Surrender.

After the recent explosions and shootings, the motorcycle gang has once again become highly current.

In November 2018, the report "Violent Extremism and Organized Crime" was released, which shows that by far the largest group is the gang.

The Mc gang in numbers. The picture shows the explosion on Gyllenstiernsgatan. It is not yet clear if it was related to the MC gang, but the person arrested has links to Bandidos. For a longer explanation of the figures see the fact box. Photo: Anders Wiklund / TT

The Mc-gang also has the highest middle age and to a large extent consists of Swedish-born with Swedish parents. A large part of the individuals in the motorcycle gang are also involved in companies.

Several explosions with couplings to mc threads

Recently, a man was arrested who has connections to both Bandidos and the Bredäng network - the man is probably suspected of the explosion on Gyllenstiernsgatan in central Stockholm. The fact that there is a large overlap between the networks and the MC gang is also stated in the report.

Several explosions and shootings in Central Sweden are also reported to have links to the criminal motorcycle gang.

But despite the fact that the MC gang is the largest group of criminals, they have had to act relatively undisturbed, according to Svante Lindgren, police commissioner and expert on criminal MC gangs.

A drone scene shows the devastation after the explosion in Linköping on June 7, 2019, an event that is described as one of the worst explosions in Sweden in the last 20 years - and which is suspected to have been directed at the motorcycle gang No Surrender. However, Amir Rostami does not want to describe recent events as a new motorcycle war: “It gives wrong associations to the 90s, we do not have that development today. But the fact that Mc-gang is in conflict with each other is more or less something that is ongoing, ”he says. Photo: Jeppe Gustafsson / TT

The explanation is simple: the deadly violence from the criminal networks in vulnerable areas around Sweden.

- All the power has gone to these other gangs and blasts. We have to pay that price for today. But my great wish is that we get more resources for the fight against motor gangs, which we had good control of during the 90s and a good bit into the 00s, Svante Lindgren recently told SVT Nyheter.

Mc gang crime forgotten

So is the crime of the gang gang forgotten? According to Amir Rostami, at least to some extent.

- Shootings and bombings steal resources, rightly so because it is the most acute threat scene. The police have to deal with a number of different threats at the same time and so far the crime of the MC gang has not been visible and has therefore received less attention, he says.

Amir Rostami on whether the motorcycle gang has become "smarter" since the 1990s: "This is not a homogeneous environment. There are organizations that are more rational, have a better organization for dealing with conflicts, are more strategic, are better at distancing themselves from visible crime. Others are as non-rational as the street gang. But yes, today we have a more rational and stable motorcycle environment than the 1990s, even though they do not have the same total control over the gang environment as they did then ”. The picture shows the funeral of a Bandidos member in Helsingborg 1996. Photo: Scan-Foto / Pressens Bild / TT

At the same time, Amir Rostami believes that the media also needs to update their knowledge of the motorcycle gang.

- When we released the report, I remember that one reaction was "is the motorcycle gang left?" A general view is that if one is not visible, one does not exist. It's just the opposite. That you are not visible is because you choose not to be seen.

Has been relatively quiet since the 90's mc war

In the mid-1990s and early 2000s, the Great Nordic MC War raged between Hells Angels and Bandidos, a conflict that killed 12 lives and left nearly 100 people injured. Since then it has been relatively quiet around the motorcycle gang.

So why has it become violent right now?

- There are trends that are going up and down. When conflicts arise, violence increases. We saw a similar development in the latter part of the 1990s, but this level of visible violence has been uncommon in recent years, says Amir Rostami.

On September 25, 1997, Bandido's Jim Tinndahn and Hells Angels Bent "Blondie" Svane Nielsen shake hands in Danish television. Thus there will be peace in the great Nordic motorcycle war. Photo: Denmark's Radio / FLT-PICA / TT

Another important explanation for the current conflict between at least two criminal motorcycle organizations is that the Dutch motorcycle club No Surrender is trying to establish itself in Sweden.

- After the great Nordic motorcycle war, the clubs agreed that no new international motorcycle clubs could establish themselves in the Nordic countries. It is something the parties to the war are and agreed upon and that has been their red line. Therefore, the selection becomes violent when new competitors emerge. You want to avoid the same development as the one in the Netherlands, says Amir Rostami.