Romania extradites suspected Hell’s Angels leader to US on drug charges

Marius Lazar, former Hells Angels Motorcycle Club leader in Romania, is escorted by law enforcement officers while being extradited to the U.S., in Otopeni, Ilfov, Romania, on January 16, 2023. Inquam Photos/Octav Ganea via REUTERS

BUCHAREST — Romania has extradited the suspected leader of the country’s Hell’s Angels chapter to the United States to face charges of drug trafficking, money laundering, and complicity in attempted murder, police said on Monday.

Romanian media identified the man as the biker club’s country branch leader, Marius Lazar, who is wanted for being a member of an international group of drug traffickers and for negotiating the attempted killing of two rivals.

Lazar, 49, was arrested in Bucharest in December.

He was met on Monday by U.S. Marshals with face coverings as he was led to a plane, according to a Reuters witness.

“The extradition request was approved in January 2023, and the Romanian citizen will be transferred to the USA, where he will be tried for the acts he is accused of,” police, who did not identify the individual, said.

Romanian police began investigating Hell’s Angels members in 2020, they said, working with U.S. Marshals and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.

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