Federal agents serve search warrant at local motorcycle club
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One of the search warrants was served near Mayflower and Edison roads in South Bend Wednesday morning.
After the raid, the US Attorney's Office announced 16 members and associates of the motorcycle club had been charged with racketeering and conspiracy to distribute drugs.
No arrests were made in South Bend and no local members were included a list of those charged.
The ATF was the lead agency in the raids on Wednesday.
The owner of the building, Rhonda Hensell, said she was made aware of the police activity Wednesday morning.
“We just made aware a little after 8 this morning that the police were down there and then a relative went down and asked the police what was going on. And the police responded that there was, that they had made entry into the building and into the storage shed and that they weren’t giving out any information and that we were not to go inside the building until they let us know. And it was ATF that was there," said Hensell.
She said she has rented to the club for nearly two years and hasn't had any issues.
"We’re leasing the building month to month to Sin City Motorcycle Club. They’ve been there over two years and they’ve been great tenants, there’s never been any problems at all," Hensell said.
Neighbors say this isn't the first time they've heard of problems with the club.
“I’ve just noticed a large crowd coming in on the weekends and a lot of noise, sometimes loud music and that kind of thing," Thomas Edwards said. “I will say if you know if have something like that in your neighborhood it’s not a good thing for the residents of the area and I’m sure others are similar to what I am and probably didn’t realize what was going on there either. We just see the motorcycles coming and going.”
Investigators have not revealed the local connection, but say multiple federal, state and local law enforcement agencies are assisting in the investigation.