FBI, Sheriff’s Office Arrest 28 Motorcycle Gang Members In ‘Operation Mongolian Beef’

Over two dozen alleged members of an outlaw motorcycle gang have been arrested and charged in connection with a March shooting at a Florida gas station, the FBI’s Jacksonville office announced on Wednesday.

In total, 28 members of the Mongols motorcycle gang were arrested during a joint operation, dubbed “Operation Mongolian Beef,” which was done in coordination between the FBI Jacksonville Division, the Volusia Sheriff’s Office, and the Seventh Judicial Circuit State Attorney’s Office, according to a statement, which added that arrest warrants were issued for three other members of the gang, whose arrests are pending.

As the Epoch Times notes further, the individuals have been charged with aggravated rioting in relation to the shooting at a gas station in New Smyrna Beach during Bike Week on March 8, 2025.

Aggravated rioting is when an individual participates in a riot of 25 or more other people, according to the statement. It is a second-degree felony and punishable by up to 15 years in prison.

As part of the operation, the FBI and its law enforcement partners carried out 14 search warrants at multiple properties, including at the Mongols Clubhouse in Edgewater, Florida; four homes in Volusia County; three homes in Brevard County; two homes in Miami-Dade County; one home in Chesterfield County, Virginia; one home in Palm Beach County; and two homes in Polk County.

“The FBI has made a commitment to all Americans that we will crush violent crime across the country,” FBI Jacksonville Special Agent in Charge Jason Carley said in the statement.

“There is no doubt Volusia County and, in fact, the entire state of Florida is safer today with these violent offenders off the street.”

The Mongols motorcycle gang, also known as the Mongols Motorcycle Club, is an international organization that self-identifies as an “outlaw” motorcycle gang, meaning its members define themselves as within the “1 percent” of motorcycle clubs who do not abide by the law, according to the Department of Justice (DOJ).

The group has slogans such as “Respect Few, Fear None” and “Live Mongol Die Mongol,” which the DOJ said illustrate the members’ “cut-throat attitude.”

Its members typically wear vests and patches, or have tattoos identifying their connection to the group, the DOJ said.

Outlaw motorcycle gangs are generally highly structured criminal organizations whose members engage in a range of criminal activities, including violent crime, weapons trafficking, and drug trafficking, according to the DOJ.

The Mongols gang is one of many such outlaw gangs that pose a “serious national domestic threat,” the department said.

Volusia Sheriff Mike Chitwood said the March 8 shooting took place at around 11.30 a.m, and involved members of the Mongols gang and a rival gang called the Warlocks.

He said the Mongols knew in advance that the Warlocks would be at the gas station and planned to “attack them.”

The Mongols arrived at the gas station and fired at the rival gang members, Chitwood said at a press conference, adding that “bullets were flying, innocent people were there, children were there.”

Two Warlocks were shot and sustained minor injuries, Chitwood said.

They declined to cooperate with law enforcement, but officials were able to use video footage from the shooting, including footage taken by bystanders, to identify at least 31 individuals allegedly involved in the incident, he said.

Chitwood said the Mongols are recognized as an organized crime domestic terror group in the United States, and internationally.

“They lit the fuse,” he said of the group. “It’s game on now. It’s game on because there’s going to be a treasure trove of evidence that’s going to lead to more and more indictments and arrests and put all the motorcycle gangers on notice.”