The Bandidos
Permission to post the information below was graciously given by the 
Southeastern Connecticut Gang Activities Group

Please note: The information below was taken from the website of the Southeastern Connecticut Gang Activities Group. I know very little about motorcycle/biker gangs, so I am relying upon that group to provide accurate information. I can not testify to the accuracy of the material myself. If you know of an Internet site that provides more accurate information, please let me know about it.

The club was formed in 1966 in Houston by Donald Eugene Chambers. He forms an outlaw motorcycle club to control drug trafficking and prostitution in Texas. He sees a T.V. commercial with the Frito Bandido raising hell to sell potato chips. Chambers calls his gang the Bandidos. He even adopts the fat, machete and pistol welding cartoon cowboy as the club's colors.

The Bandidos, also called the Bandido Nation, are the fastest growing outlaw motorcycle gang in the U.S.. The club has about 30 chapters and 500 members. It even has an Australian chapter, acquired with much bloodletting. The club is concentrated in Texas and extends into Louisiana, Mississippi, Arkansas, New Mexico, Colorado, South Dakota and Washington State. The Bandidos are run by a mother chapter made up of a president, four regional vice presidents and regional and local chapter officers.

The Bandidos are involved in drug trafficking, prostitution, contract murder, fencing, extortion, stealing and running weapons, welfare and bank fraud, and arson. The bikers make most of their money manufacturing and selling methamphetamine. Club members and associates who are pilots smuggle drugs and guns across the border and state lines.

A NOMAD chapter takes care of Bandido security,
counterintelligence and internal discipline. The chapter is made up of charter members who have been with the club for more than 5 years. The elite group does not live in one area, although many of its members gravitate to Lubbock, Texas. The chapter compiles files on police forces and outlaw motorcycle gangs they-consider enemies.

The Bandidos' alliance with the Outlaws began in 1978 in an effort to expand their drug network. The Outlaws provide the Bandidos with cocaine that they get from Colombian and Cuban suppliers. Both clubs socialize in Bandidos controlled towns. They also own a nightclub together in Oklahoma City. The clubs consider themselves sister organizations and wear each other's tattoos.

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