A pseudo-Nazi biker gang is keeping the whole of New Zealand at bay

Who would have thought that the world's biker capital, it turns out, is not the United States, but New Zealand. It is in this country that the largest number of bikers per capita. With a population of four and a half million people, more than four thousand men dress in leather and ride motorcycles. And almost all of them are members of organized criminal groups.

Local photographer Jono Rotman (Jono Rotman) ingratiated himself with the leaders of the most notorious gang and created a powerful photo project.

The largest gang in New Zealand is the Mighty Mongrel Mob, or simply "mongrels". About five percent of all prisoners in the country are active members of this group. In fact, crime here is so tightly intertwined with the culture of bikers that the words " biker "and" criminal " in the minds of ordinary New Zealanders are almost synonymous.

The Mighty Mongrel Mob gang was born in the 60s, when the wave of popularity of the American biker movement reached these edges. The marginals, who did not disdain petty crimes, began to buy beushnye motorcycles and drive all together. Gradually, the crimes became more serious, and the company became more numerous.

Initially, only whites were accepted into the gang. "Mongrels" were very proud of their European origin and emphasized this by the active use of Nazi symbols. They still get tattoos or swastika patches, and wear helmets with the SS crest on them. Now such costumes look funny due to the fact that the gang consists entirely of Maori and people from the Polynesian islands. 

There are about 30 Mongrel Mob branches in New Zealand. They even managed to capture a small part of the coast of Australia, driving out local crime. The key to this progress lies in the fact that Maori bikers feel like members of a warrior brotherhood, in which a rigid hierarchy operates, as if in a primitive tribe.

The "mongrels" earn their living in the old ways — robberies, the manufacture and sale of drugs, the sale of weapons. True, the main part of the income is made up of boring financial frauds. Mongrel Mob is famous for its masterful money laundering schemes.

The worst enemies of Mongrel Mob are the guys from Black Power. This gang appeared in the 80s on the basis of passion for the ideas of social equality. Black Power figures have become a kind of African-American New Zealand spill. And, imitating the Americans, they are engaged in an irreconcilable struggle with local pseudo-Nazis. Although in fact, they are more interested in drug trafficking.

Members of the Black Power Gang