NJ Pagan Gang Poses Statewide Threat Of Drugs, Violence: Experts

NEW JERSEY — State officials say they're probing what they consider a new gang threat, one that promotes violence, drugs and other criminal acts across New Jersey.

Officials from the state Commission of Investigation told lawmakers this week the agency is probing the "Pagans," an outlaw motorcycle group, because its resurgence in the state has led to increased violence and drug dealing across New Jersey.

The hearing came a month after Wildwood police charged 27 people in connection with the Roar at the Shore Motorcycle Rally. Charges included robbery, assault, illegal weapon possession and meth distribution, authorities announced.

The Roar to the Shore rally historically attracts motorcycle gangs and outlaw groups, according to Wildwood police. But this rally drew attention — and pleas for state assistance from local officials — because individuals from as far as Chicago and West Virginia were arrested. Read more: 27 Busted At Wildwood Roar To The Shore Motorcycle Rally: Police

Officials told lawmakers the Pagans expanded from 10 chapters in New Jersey in 2016 to at least 17 chapters now, and likely exist in every county in the state.

Lee Seglem, executive director of the State Commission of Investigation, appeared at a Statehouse hearing in Trenton on Wednesday and provided a list of crimes to lawmakers that the agency believes the Pagans are responsible for:

• Increased violence, including documented incidents of assaults, shootings and weapons possession all across the state
• Extortion of legitimate businesses
• Muscle‐for‐hire debt collection schemes
• Ties to traditional organized crime
• Drug dealing — primarily methamphetamine — with Pagans members running meth distribution networks sometimes in concert with elements of the Mexican drug cartels

Other investigators who appeared at the hearing provided more specifics about the group's practices. One analyst with the commission, Nicole McCann, said women are called "old ladies," "property of." They're also called "pets" because they are shared sexually among the group, she said.

"They're typically given as many drugs or drinks as they want," she said during the hearing. "It's the lowest class of Pagan women. In fact it's a Pagan rule that they're never allowed to marry a pet.”

Women are not allowed to join the group, McCann said. In fact, women are ranked "below dogs" on the list of who should be respected, she said.

Investigators said Pagan members have been identified among the ranks of state and municipal workers, including ex-law enforcement officials and one former municipal court judge.

A video shown to the commission depicted possible Pagan-inspired violence at a Newark gas station last year:

Seglem said the probe is part of the agency's "Organized Crime Spotlight," with the objective of providing "authoritative profiles and threat assessments involving every significant criminal enterprise — that is, organized crime broadly defined — impacting New Jersey and the region."

Now the agency is putting that "spotlight" on the Pagans.

"Despite the sometimes rough appearance of these guys, they are not at all unsophisticated when it comes to undermining and frustrating law enforcement," Seglem said, noting security was added to the Trenton hearing's Statehouse location because of the group's potential threat of violence.

"On another level, members of this organization also conduct counter-surveillances at various events, and they use electronic communications devices encrypted to shield their activities from outside scrutiny," he said.