Hells Angels trial opens in Spain

Madrid, Jan 23 (EFE).- A mass trial of some 50 alleged Hells Angels members and collaborators facing a raft of charges from extortion to drug trafficking opened in Spain on Monday.

Among the defendants is German national Frank Hanebuth, believed to have been the leader of the Hells Angels Motor Club in Hannover Germany before opening a chapter of the gang in Mallorca, Spain.

The trial comes 10 years after a police operation to dismantle the chapter on the Balearic Island, where it operated between 2009 and 2011, according to prosecutors.

Several of the defendants on trial at Spain’s High Court in Madrid are engaged in plea deal negotiations, judicial sources told Efe.

Prosecutors are seeking a 13-year prison sentence for Hanebuth, while two other alleged members, brother Khalil and Abdelghani Youssafi, are facing 38 and 33 years on allegations of running a prostitution ring and drug trafficking. EFE

mms-na/jt