The Mongols Motorcycle Club, sometimes called the Mongol Nation or Mongol Brotherhood, is a "one-percenter" outlaw motorcycle club and alleged organized crime syndicate. The club is headquartered in southern California and was originally formed in Montebello, California, in 1969. Law enforcement officials estimate there are approximately 1000 to 1500 full-patched members (with the expansion in Australia in 2013). The Mongols main presence is in southern California, but also all over the United States with chapters in 14 states, as well as international chapters in 18 countries. Criminal activities[edit] The Mongols members have had long-running confrontations with law enforcement concerning the illegal drugs trade (especially methamphetamine), money laundering, robbery, extortion, firearms violations, murder, and assault, among other crimes.[6][7][8][9][10] Current club president David Santillan denies that the club as a whole is a criminal enterprise, and attorneys for the club state that it has changed its code of conduct to exclude drug abusers and criminals. Incidents[edit] In 1998, ATF agent William Queen infiltrated the club, eventually becoming a full-patch member and rising to the rank of chapter vice-president using the undercover alias of Billy St. John. In April 2000, based on evidence gathered during Queen's 28-month undercover time with the club, 54 Mongols were arrested. All but one of the accused were later convicted of various crimes including drug trafficking, motorcycle theft, and conspiracy to commit murder.[12] In 2002, members of the Mongols and the Hells Angels had a confrontation in Laughlin, Nevada, at the Harrah's Laughlin Casino, that left three bikers dead.[13] Mongol Anthony "Bronson" Barrera, 43, was stabbed to death; and two Hells Angels — Jeramie Bell, 27, and Robert Tumelty, 50 — were shot to death. On February 23, 2007, Hells Angels members James Hannigan and Rodney Cox were sentenced to two years in prison for their respective roles in the incident. Cox and Hannigan were captured on videotape confronting Mongols inside the casino. Mongols member Christopher Ablett turned himself in to authorities in Bartlesville, Oklahoma, on October 4, 2008 after going on the run for murdering Hells Angels President Mark "Papa" Guardado in San Francisco, California earlier that year. His bond had been set at $5 million.[14] He was convicted of murder in aid of racketeering and three gun charges on February 23, 2012, in San Francisco.[15] On December 20, 2008, in Las Vegas, Mongols members arrived at "A Special Memories Wedding Chapel" for a fellow member's wedding, to find a local Hells Angels charter were just finishing up their own ceremony. It is reported by KTNV Channel 13 news, that the Hells Angels attacked the Mongols members, sending three to a hospital, two of whom suffered from stab wounds. No arrests were made and local authorities report that they are looking for suspects said to be involved in the attack.[16] On October 28, 2014, in San Gabriel, California, a Mongols member, David Martinez, allegedly shot and killed Pomona Police SWAT Team member Shaun Diamond. Diamond was shot in the back of the base of his neck, with a shotgun during the service of a search warrant.[17] Martinez shot Diamond after the officer turned his back to the doorway following the breaching procedure. Officer Diamond died at dawn, October 29, 2014 at Huntington Memorial Hospital. Judge M.L. Villar, at the preliminary hearing, added a special gang allegation to the capital murder charges after the prosecution connected him to a Mongols chapter in Montebello, California. Martinez faces the death penalty if convicted.