Dozens arrested in crackdown on second motorcycle gang

Forty-one members of the Michigan-based Devils Disciples have been charged with crimes including attempted murder and drug trafficking in this week's second crackdown on a Midwest motorcycle gang, federal prosecutors said on Friday. Agents seized more than 60 firearms, ammunition, and dismantled eight laboratories producing methamphetamine operated by the gang, the Department of Justice said in a statement. Of the 41 gang members indicted by a grand jury in the Eastern District of Michigan, 31 were arrested and five were already in custody, the statement said. Five others were at large. "For years, according to the indictment, the Devils Diciples have spread fear in cities throughout Michigan and around the country," Assistant U.S. Attorney General Breuer said in a statement. On Wednesday, law enforcement agents arrested 42 members of the notorious Outlaws Motorcycle Club in raids across the Midwest. Agents seized their Indianapolis clubhouse along with 2.2 pounds (a kilogram) of cocaine, guns and $15,000 in cash. The Outlaws are rivals of the infamous Hells Angels motorcycle gang. Among the Devils Disciples arrested on charges that included attempted murder, robbery, extortion, and racketeering were the National President Jeff Smith, known as "Fat Dog," and the group's vice president, Paul "Pauli" Darrah. Smith was charged with Darrah and another member of using a metal pipe to assault member Scott "Scotty P" Perkins. Members also administered beatings to rival gangs, the statement said. The Disciples' headquarters are in Clinton Township, Michigan. They have chapters throughout Michigan, Alabama, Arizona, California, Illinois, Indiana and Ohio.