There’s a new biker gang in town, the Vagos — and it’s growing fast.

And so is the threat of a deadly war with its traditional rivals the Hells Angels, law enforcement sources say.

“They’re at war with the Hells Angels in California” and any other place where each have chapters, share the same territory, Ontario Biker Enforcement Unit Det.-Sgt. Len Isnor says.

“If they spread into Canada, the Ontario Hells Angels will do whatever it takes to support their brothers in California,” he says.

“So there could be violence.”
A state of animosity between the Vagos and Hells has existed since the 1960s — mostly over turf and drugs but sometimes it’s because they simply hate each other.

“I think it comes into the machismo thing. I think it’s as simple as that in a lot of cases,” says a source with the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.

The most recent violent spat between the Vagos and Hells Angels was in Chino Valley, Ariz., last July when members exchanged about 50 rounds in a street gun battle.
http://www.torontosun.com/news/torontoandgta/2011/01/08/16811556.html 

Power vacuum opened door for Vagos

The move by the Vagos into Canada comes after major police actions against the Hells in Ontario and Quebec and the demise of the Bandidos in 2007 left a biker power vacuum.

“So all the Hells Angels in Quebec are in jail, a lot of big name Hells Angels in Ontario are in jail or are on some sort” of court restriction, Ontario Biker Enforcement Unit Det.-Sgt. Len Isnor says.

“So this is the perfect environment right now for somebody to try and establish a club in Ontario.”
Before that crackdown “either you’re a Hells Angel in this province, or you’re an Outlaw, or you’re a nobody because no one is allowed to start up a 1% gang” without their approval, he says.

The Outlaws and Hells weren’t going to sanction another biker gang in their territory unless it was a puppet gang “to do their dirty work,” Isnor says.

The only way to circumvent that barrier is to be sanctioned by another major U.S. 1% gang, like the Vagos, he says.

“Unless you’re one of those big clubs from the U.S., you’re a nobody”
Isnor says.
 http://www.torontosun.com/news/torontoandgta/2011/01/08/16811596.html

Biker gang expansion in high gear
The Vagos biker club is accelerating hard to recruit new members and is quickly catching up to its archrivals the Hells Angels.

“I think it’s as simple as the Vagos want to expand as quickly as possible,” says a source with the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.

It now has about 900 known members in the U.S., the ATF source says.

Other sources indicate the gang has about 1,300 members worldwide, which includes chapters in Mexico.

“I think these guys are blossoming everywhere,” the source says. “They have almost as many chapters as the Hells Angels in the United States. They probably have equal numbers to the Hells Angels in the United States.”
http://www.torontosun.com/news/torontoandgta/2011/01/08/16811626.html