May 23, 2012
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WVLT) -- The Knox County Sheriff's Office tells Volunteer TV that the Outlaw Motorcycle Gang clubhouse on Clifton Street has been raided.
Special KCSO teams raided the local headquarters at 205 Clifton Road Thursday night, and arrested two of the gang's alleged ringleaders. A 14-month undercover operation led to the arrests of Mark Lester and Kenneth Foster on charges of aggravated robbery and aggravated kidnapping.
Lester, who is known as Ivan to gang members, is the regional president of the Outlaw Biker Gang for Tennessee and Kentucky. Foster is the local chapter president, the local and regional treasurer and handles the books and records of both the Knoxville chapter and the Tennessee and Kentucky region.
The KCSO undercover officer was recruited as a full member of the gang by Lester. In an affidavit for the search warrants, he said he observed the use of numerous drugs within the gang, including cocaine, oxycontin, hydrocodone and marijuana, as well as weapons such as semiautomatic pistols, Uzi automatic weapons and grenades.
The charges from Friday's raid stem from an incident earlier in December when Lester and Foster threatened the undercover officer with a semiautomatic pistol, if he did not give his vest, which identifies gang members with patches and insignia, to them. The officer said he feared for his life and so gave the vest to the two men.
According to the warrants, officers are also searching the clubhouse for gang records, drugs and drug paraphernalia, including scales, mixing devices, packaging materials, photographs of anyone involved, financial records and evidence of concealment of illegal activities.
Foster's and Lester's bonds are set at three million dollars each.
The Outlaw Bikers’ Gang organization is national, and is known to engage in murder, conspiracy to commit murder, attempted murder, and conspiracy to traffic in narcotics, robbery, extortion, money laundering, and witness intimidation.
Stay tuned to Volunteer TV and VolunteerTV.com for more on this developing story.
