A former undercover cop has warned that a biker gang notorious for extreme violence is once again active in crime-ridden New York.
The Pagan’s Motorcycle Club toured the streets of New York on Saturday in an apparent attempt to recruit new members, former Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) agent Ken Croke told the New York Post.
“The pagans today ride the streets of New York under their flag,” Croke said. “There are a bunch of pagans running around here who are actively recruiting people, and this has been going on for many years.”
Croke, who spent two years undercover with the gang, claimed the gang members “sold methamphetamine and guns, raped women, mistreated rivals, and extorted money from businesses.”
He recalled how one leader removed his artificial leg to stab a business owner who refused to pay him, and how another “described a plan to brutally rape” a female acquaintance while drinking beer and snorting cocaine in a motorcycle club hideout.
Since Croke’s covert work almost a decade ago, 20 pagans have pleaded guilty to charges of racketeering, drugs, firearms and conspiracy to commit murder, among others. Now he is warning that the group, which has 2,000 members across the country, is growing again in the Big Apple.
A former undercover cop has warned that a biker gang notorious for extreme violence is once again operating in crime-ridden New York.
Former Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives agent Ken Croke (not pictured), who spent two years undercover with the gang, claimed the members “sold crystal meth and guns, raped women, mistreated competitors, and extorted business has money.
“These people are not stupid,” Kroc, 54, warned in an interview with The Drive, detailing his experience undercover as a gang member.
He said the group acted like law enforcement in terms of structure and process.
The former ATF agent explained that the gang, which was essentially an organized crime ring, would use extortion tactics to intimidate rival gang members or business owners who refuse to pay the “protection money” requested by the Pagans.
He also recalled helping the group move the body of an alleged murder victim from one upstate grave to another.
“They are extremely dangerous. They are organized crime. They use intimidation, threats of violence to get what they want,” he said.
Croke argued that the Gentiles would hold mandatory weekly meetings referred to as “Church” and use encrypted mobile phones and counter-surveillance efforts to avoid authorities and stay out of sight.
Participants were expected to keep up with the longtime leaders during the rides, especially since these individuals were tasked with remaining vigilant for potential threats or dangers.
“If the leader of the pack decides to overtake the tractor trailer, you must keep up. You can’t lag behind in a pack,” Krok explained.
“You ride hard and a lot of bikers die on their bikes. Riding side by side is hard for a lot of riders, and you’re doing it with a hundred others at 100 mph. I’ve been run off the road many times.”
The group’s recent resurgence came after 51-year-old Bronx chapter leader Francisco Rosado was gunned down by members of a rival gang in May 2020.
Rosado was shot and killed by two masked men on Holland Avenue near Mays Avenue in Allerton. He was shot in the head and chest and pronounced dead at the scene.
Rosado’s murder comes just months after Pagans fired 14 shots at the Hells Angels’ newly acquired home base. Investigators at the site of Rosado’s death.
Hell’s Angels head Frank Tatulli, 58, and club member Saiyanon Tongtuat, 29 (both pictured committing the murder) were arrested and charged with his murder two months later.
The former cop recalled sleeping on the dirty floor of a Long Island home while working for the gang, “surrounded by dirt and the smell of stale beer, weed and cigarettes.”
He claimed that gang members often “smelled like shit and snored like bears”.
Croke also likened the process of joining an organization to hazing in a fraternity.
“In the long term, I was considered a servant, a slave, or even less. It’s like college hazing, except you can be beaten into a coma or killed at any moment,” he explained in his recently published book detailing his time in the group.
“We broke tails and were on guard duty, but I spent most of these weekends being commanded, humiliated and not respected,” Krok recalled.
The members commanded him by saying, “Potential customer, go get me a hamburger.” “Prospect, bring me a beer.” “Prospect, go my bike.” “Prospect, give me a cigarette.” “Prospect, I need a spark plug.”
“I just had to accept it all,” he explained.
Croke (not pictured) explained that the gang, which was essentially an organized crime ring, would use extortion tactics to intimidate rival gang members or business owners who refuse to pay the “protection money” requested by the Pagans.
Pagans held mandatory weekly meetings called “Church” and used encrypted mobile phones and counter-surveillance efforts to avoid authorities and stay out of sight.
He also witnessed the group resorting to violence without hesitation to achieve their goals.
“They were well organized in what they were doing and they were good at it,” Croke told The Patriot Ledger by phone, noting that they operate with a “pack mentality.”
“The minute you do something to one of them, you do it to all of them,” he said.
Croke recalled how in 2019, when their main rival, the Hells Angels, tried to squeeze into pagan territory in the Bronx, the group fired 14 shots at their newly acquired home base, the abandoned American Legion Hall in Troggs Neck.
Shortly thereafter, Francisco Rosado, who led the Pagans’ Bronx chapter, was gunned down in broad daylight in May 2020 in apparent revenge by a rival group.
Hells Angels head Frank Tatulli, 58, and club member Sayanon Tongtuat, 29, were arrested and charged with murder two months later.
According to Croke, the Pagans are the “more dangerous” of the two infamous gangs.
“Hell’s Angels, in my opinion, it’s like a business,” he said. “They have copyrights, doctors and lawyers whose members are not involved in criminal activities.
“Pagans are just cruel people. They are bad guys. They don’t have two nickels to rub against each other, but they don’t care.”
He claimed that Hells Angels “sleep in five-star hotels” and “pagans sleep in muddy fields”.
Croke (left) details his experiences with pagans in his book Riding with Evil: Destroying the Notorious Pagan Motorcycle Gang (right). He shares the group’s inner workings and his own struggles to lead a double life undercover.
After Croke left the club, the Pagans placed a price of $50,000 on his head. It is unclear if the group is seeking his death today.
Croke details his experiences with pagans in his book Riding with Evil: Destroying an Infamous Pagan Motorcycle Gang.
The book, released last week, was co-written with New York Times bestselling author Dave Wedge.
He shares the group’s inner workings and his own struggles with maintaining a double life undercover.
When asked if he thought Pagans management would read the novel, Croke replied, “I’d be surprised if they didn’t.”
‘They are reading [these types of books] to try and discover what law enforcement is doing. They watch all these shows, from documentaries to Sons of Anarchy,” he said.
After Croke left the club, the Pagans placed a price of $50,000 on his head. It is unclear if the group is seeking his death today.
The pagan resurgence comes due to a sharp rise in crime in the Big Apple in 2022 after rising in 2021.
The pagan resurgence comes due to a sharp rise in crime in the Big Apple in 2022 after rising in 2021.
There were 32 murders in February, three more than in the same month last year.
Many other categories saw a shocking jump, including car theft, which rose nearly 105 percent; grand theft, which jumped nearly 80 percent from the previous year; robberies, which rose by 56 percent; A 44 percent increase in burglaries and a 22 percent surge in assaults. Rape also rose by a staggering 35 percent in February.
The wave of crime came in the first few months of Mayor Eric Adams’s tenure. The former NYC cop has vowed to stem the tide of incidents on the city’s streets and subway system, which has seen a slew of violent incidents in recent weeks. Former Mayor Bill De Blasio’s policies have contributed to the current crime wave, experts say.
The New York City subway has become the epicenter of a hidden crime wave after an alarming 73.3 percent increase in underground incidents, including 182 in February alone.
Hate crimes also doubled from last year, with attacks against Asians more than tripling and complaints against Jews up a whopping 54 percent year-over-year, from 134 to 207 incidents.
One recent poll showed that nearly 75 percent of all New York City voters consider crime to be a “very serious” problem.