Expansion of the international motorcycle club Satudarah into the Oslo area has put police on the alert, and prompted them to spread warnings about it.
Police claim Satudarah “is most known for being engaged in crime, violence and weapons, less for motorcycle riding,” and they fear the club will recruit minority youth to expand a criminal network.
Police told Norwegian media including newspaper VG and state broadcaster NRK that the Netherlands-based Satudarah, which gained a foothold in Stavanger in 2014, has expanded in Norway by taking over a house in the small town of Aurskog-Høland, around an hour’s drive east of Oslo. The new chapter of Satudarah has already published a video promoting itself on social media.
“As long as a club by definition isn’t an illegal organization, there’s nothing to hinder its establishment,” Ole Jørgen Arvesen of the state police crime unit KRIPOS told NRK. He made it clear police will be monitoring it, though, for fear it will recruit minority youth who’ll be drawn into a criminal organization.
“Motorcycle clubs like this have a history of targeting young men who lack a social structure around them,” Arvesen told NRK. “Promises of brotherhood and a sense of belonging can be attractive to many, and lead to more recruiting.”
The new chapter in Aurskog-Høland reportedly is led by a Norwegian-Pakistani man in his 30s who has a record of convictions for robbery, violence and narcotics-related crimes, and earlier was linked to the Oslo gang called Young Guns. Via his defense attorney, Trygve Staff, the man told NRK that he didn’t want to comment or answer any questions about the club.
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Source: News In English