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Former undercover agent recalls infiltrating the Hells Angels: 'A dangerous game to play'
Jay Dobyns lived a double life for two years, and it nearly cost him his life.
Now retired, Dobyns worked for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), which enforces the nation’s gun laws. From 2001 to 2003, he went undercover as he infiltrated the Hells Angels in Arizona.
He is now sharing his account in a new A&E series, “Secrets of The Hells Angels,” which examines the history of the notorious biker club. It features new interviews with former chapter presidents, as well as law enforcement officials, undercover agents and victims.
THE INFILTRATION OF HELLS ANGELS: TALES OF AN UNDERCOVER AGENT
Jay Dobyns, seen here with another agent posing as his girlfriend, went undercover and infiltrated the Hells Angels in Arizona for two years. (A&E)
“This infiltration had never been done before by law enforcement,” Dobyns told Fox News Digital. “Cops had never gotten under the wire of the Hells Angels in the past. All the other outlaw motorcycle gangs had been infiltrated, but the Hells Angels prided themselves on being impenetrable.
“Their mantra was that a law enforcement officer would never be able to keep up with their pace,” Dobyns shared. “A cop couldn’t run as long and as hard and as fast as their world demanded before they were able to sniff out who that infiltrator might be and then get rid of them. So, the fact that we did get inside has stood the test of time.”
The organization has a long history in California, dating to its founding in 1948 by returning World War II veterans in the dusty town of Fontana. It includes a notorious incident during a Rolling Stones show in Altamont in 1969 in which a spectator was stabbed by a Hells Angel working security. A jury later acquitted the killer, finding he acted in self-defense.
Mick Jagger and Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones warily eye the Hells Angels onstage at the Altamont Speedway December 6, 1969, in Livermore, Calif. (Robert Altman/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)
In 2011, the U.S. Department of Justice said the Hells Angels had as many as 2,500 members in 230 chapters in 26 countries. According to the FBI, the Hells Angels are still listed as an outlaw motorcycle gang involved in various criminal activity, including drug trafficking.
Federal, state and local police have pursued the club for decades, infiltrating it with undercover agents, prosecuting suspects with harsh charges once reserved for the Mafia and indicting members on charges ranging from drug trafficking to mortgage fraud.
Still, the club has flourished over the years. It has gone on to open chapters worldwide and aggressively enforce its trademarks in court. It has also won high-profile acquittals and other legal battles with law enforcement.
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Frisco Hells Angels, circa 1964. (Peter Breining/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images)
Dobyns already had 15 years of undercover street experience when he was assigned to Operation Black Biscuit. In preparation for the assignment, Dobyns shaved his head and became “fully sleeved” with tattoos from shoulder to wrist. He also bulked himself up.
The former star football player and family man had transformed into “Jaybird” Davis, a chain-smoking, Harley-riding renegade.
“I never tried to convince the Hells Angels that I was some experienced biker because I would’ve been sniffed out immediately,” Dobyns explained. “I portrayed myself as this gangster who was trying to be part of their world. It kept my story very close to the truth. I portrayed myself as a gun runner and a debt collector, not as a biker.”
Dobyns was convincing. And it didn’t take long for him to be welcomed with open arms.
“I portrayed myself as a gun runner and a debt collector, not as a biker,” Jay Dobyns told Fox News Digital. (A&E)
“For a group that portrays themselves to be these fun-loving rascals . . . they had massive amounts of internal rules and laws about what the organization’s policies are,” he recalled. “They don’t want to live by society’s rules and laws, but they have more of their own internal rules and laws than we carry as common citizens.”
“[T]he Hells Angels are uniquely paranoid. They’re paranoid for a very valid reason. That paranoia keeps them out of jail. It keeps them out of prison. It keeps them from being infiltrated.”
The Angels have always maintained they are a club of motorcycle enthusiasts who are unfairly regarded as an organized crime syndicate because of the crimes of a few members acting independently. The club participates in charity events, such as “Toys for Tots,” motorcycle runs and blood drives.
“When we do right, nobody remembers,” the club’s website states. “When we do wrong, nobody forgets.”
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The Angels have always maintained they are a club of motorcycle enthusiasts who are unfairly regarded as an organized crime syndicate. (Ricardo Dearatanha/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
Dobyns was invited to join the group only after “killing” the leader of a rival gang, the Mongols. The shooting death was staged, complete with a Hollywood makeup artist and a dead cow used to splatter the victims’ clothing with blood and brain matter.
Dobyns admitted there were moments when he feared for his life.
“[A]nybody who does undercover work and treats it like a hobby, treats it like a gimmick, ends up hurt or dead. You have to be all in. You have to allow that world to consume you because you’re never off.”
“You’re pretending to be someone that you’re not,” he said. “And the Hells Angels are uniquely paranoid. They’re paranoid for a very valid reason. That paranoia keeps them out of jail. It keeps them out of prison. It keeps them from being infiltrated. Because of that paranoia, every single thing about you is being scrutinized. How you walk, how you talk, the clothes you wear, the motorcycle you ride, how you ride it, the car you drive, where you live, the condition of where you live. Is it real?
Jay Dobyns admitted there were moments he feared for his life. (A&E)
“You can’t make a mistake in that world because a mistake means life or death.”
As Dobyns moved up, his home life was deteriorating. He recalled signing a personal check using his alter ego’s name. His wife was beginning to not recognize her spouse, who was losing himself.
“I put a massive amount of battle damage on my wife and kids,” Dobyns admitted. “My regret, my failure, the shame that I continue to carry today is that I put my job in front of my family. At the time, I tried to justify it to myself, saying anybody who does undercover work and treats it like a hobby, treats it like a gimmick, ends up hurt or dead. You have to be all in. You have to allow that world to consume you because you’re never off.
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After conducting over 500 undercover investigations spanning over 20 years, Jay Dobyns retired from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). (A&E)
“I had lived that role for so long that it inherited my personal life,” he added. “Putting my undercover assignment in front of my wife and kids is now probably my greatest life regret. I know I should be trying to flatter myself … but if I’m not transparent, if I’m not honest, then none of this has credibility.”
Operation Black Biscuit came to an end in 2003. According to Dobyns, the case at that point had become “almost too dangerous to survive in.” It brought 16 indictments, including charges of murder and racketeering.
Dobyns said several Angels wasted no time in seeking retribution once his identity was uncovered. “Threats poured in” to gang-rape his wife, murder his family and infect him with HIV, he said.
His house was burned down in 2008 with Dobyns’ wife and children still sleeping inside. They escaped unharmed, but the arsonist was never caught.
Jay Dobyns co-wrote The New York Times bestseller “No Angel” with Nils Johnson-Shelton about his harrowing experiences inside the notorious biker gang. (Ian Martin/Getty Images)
“The Hells Angels will kill their own when they feel like they’ve been betrayed,” said Dobyns. “When you show up as a newcomer, as a new person in their world, the Hells Angels view you as two things. They view you initially as a threat, because you’re an outsider. Then they view you as a victim, someone who can be manipulated or taken advantage of. I had to prove to them that I was neither. I wasn’t a threat, and I wasn’t a victim. Ultimately, that was the challenge for two years.
“I may have signed on for this assignment, but my wife and kids didn’t,” he reflected. “They were becoming the victim of these threats, but it was too late at that point. . . . The Hells Angels have their Ph.D. in violence and intimidation. They’re very good at it. . . . They don’t forgive, and they don’t forget.”
“They’re all likable. … They’re dangerous and violent men, but they’re also very charming.”
“Those threats, although not necessarily as prevalent today as they were a few years back, I’m still cautious,” he continued. “I don’t live my life in fear. I’m not trying to hide. . . . I’m telling the truth. I’m not going to run or hide from the truth either.”
Jay Dobyns is speaking out in “Secrets of the Hells Angels.” (A&E)
With more than 500 undercover investigations under his belt spanning 20 years on the job, Dobyns retired from the ATF in 2014. In 2009, he co-wrote a memoir, “No Angel.”
Looking back at his experience, Dobyns said there’s good reason why Americans continue to be fascinated by the Hells Angels.
“They’re all likable,” he chuckled. “Those guys, in my personal experience, were pleasant to be in the presence of. . . . They’re dangerous and violent men, but they’re also very charming.”
“Secrets of the Hells Angels” premieres Sunday at 10 p.m. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Arizona governor vetoes Charlie Kirk memorial license plate, sparking GOP outrage: ‘This bill falls short’
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Democratic Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs is facing fierce backlash after vetoing a bill that would have created a specialty license plate honoring slain Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk, a move Republicans are blasting as a stunning act of partisanship after his assassination.
Kirk, who was assassinated while speaking at a Sept. 10 Turning Point USA event at Utah Valley University, lived in Arizona with his wife, Erika, and two children.
The proposed specialty plate, referred to as the “Charlie Kirk memorial” plate or the “Conservative grassroots network special plate,” featured a photo of the late Kirk and the TPUSA logo in front of an American flag background.
Below the license plate number were the words “FOR CHARLIE.”
A custom Arizona license plate, featuring a Turning Point USA and Charlie Kirk design, shared by state Sen. Jake Hoffman. (Senator Jake Hoffman via X)
STATE DEPARTMENT REVOKES SIX VISAS OVER OFFENSIVE CHARLIE KIRK ASSASSINATION COMMENTS
Of the $25 fee required for the plate, $17 would be an annual donation deposited into the Conservative Grassroots Network Special Plate Fund, according to the legislation.
While the recipient of the Grassroots Network Special Plate Fund was not explicitly designated as TPUSA in the bill, it noted the director of the fund would allocate revenue annually to a nonprofit organization, founded in 2012, that focuses on restoring traditional values, maintaining a grassroots activist network on high school and college campuses in Arizona, and assisting college students with voter registration and absentee ballots.
People gather at a memorial to mourn Turning Point USA Founder Charlie Kirk outside Turning Point USA headquarters Sept. 12, 2025, in Phoenix. (Charly Triballeau/AFP via Getty Images)
TPUSA, founded by Kirk in 2012, is well known for its grassroots activist networks on high school and college campuses. It is headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona.
The $25 fee and annual $17 donation are consistent with the fees for the other 109 nonprofit license plates offered by the Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT).
‘WE ARE NOT AFRAID’: ERIKA KIRK VOWS TPUSA WILL CONTINUE CAMPUS DEBATES NATIONWIDE
The state Senate passed the bill, 16-2, with the House of Representatives voting 31-23 in favor prior to Hobbs’ veto.
Specialty plates in Arizona are authorized by the legislature and sent to the governor to be signed into law. They have been offered since 1989.
In a letter explaining the veto, Hobbs cited concerns with the bill “bring[ing] people together,” claiming it would “insert politics into a function of government that should remain nonpartisan.”
Democratic Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs is facing fierce backlash after vetoing a bill that would have created a specialty license plate honoring slain Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk. (Rebecca Noble/Getty Images)
ERIKA KIRK BATTLES FOR CAMERAS IN COURTROOM WHILE EXPANDING TPUSA CHAPTERS IN NEW STATE PARTNERSHIP
“Charlie Kirk’s assassination is tragic and a horrifying act of violence,” Hobbs wrote. “In America, we resolve our political differences at the ballot box. No matter who it targets, political violence puts us all in harm’s way and damages our sacred democratic institutions.
“I will continue working toward solutions that bring people together, but this bill falls short of that standard.”
Specialty license plates with political interests already approved by the state include the “Choose Life” Plate, which benefits the Arizona Life Coalition and its mission to promote anti-abortion advocacy and education; the “In God We Trust” Plate, which benefits conservative Christian legal advocacy group Alliance Defending Freedom; and the Arizona Realtors’ “Homes for All” Plate, which funds affordable housing projects.
Charlie Kirk, founder of Turning Point USA, speaks during the Turning Point Action conference in 2023 in West Palm Beach, Fla. (Lynne Sladky/AP Photo)
DEMOCRAT JOHN FETTERMAN DECRIES ‘DEHUMANIZING’ ATTACK AGAINST CHARLIE KIRK’S WIDOW ERIKA
Another approved plate, “Alice Cooper’s Solid Rock Plate,” which benefits Solid Rock Teen Centers, features a portrait of the legendary musician, who has made political comments about social issues including gender identity.
Republican state Sen. Jake Hoffman, who sponsored the bill, posted a fiery statement on social media after the governor’s action, claiming her “grotesque partisanship knows no bounds.”
“Even in the wake of a global civil rights leader — an Arizona resident and her own constituent — being assassinated in broad daylight for his defense of the First Amendment, Hobbs couldn’t find the human decency to put her far-Left extremism aside simply to allow those how wish to honor him to do so,” Hoffman wrote. “Katie Hobbs will forever be known as a stain on the pages of Arizona’s story.”
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On Saturday, TPUSA COO Tyler Bowyer shared an X post that said, “Deport Katie Hobbs.”
TPUSA, Bowyer and Hobbs’ office did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s requests for comment.
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Air Force veteran warns ‘cartels don’t collapse — they fracture’ after notorious drug lord killed
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Nearly two weeks after Mexican forces killed notorious cartel boss Ruben “El Mencho” Oseguera Cervantes, questions remain about how the powerful Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) will respond and whether the blow will meaningfully disrupt the flow of fentanyl into the United States.
Carlos De La Cruz, a 20-year U.S. Air Force veteran who deployed after 9/11 and later served along the southern border, told Fox News the cartel leader’s death marked a major victory, but warned Americans should not mistake it for the end of the fight.
“When I say that this is a significant win, I mean it,” De La Cruz said. “El Mencho ran one of the most violent cartels on the planet.”
Oseguera, who rose to prominence in the post–El Chapo era, oversaw CJNG’s aggressive expansion across Mexico and into key trafficking corridors feeding U.S. drug markets. Under his leadership, the cartel became a central architect of fentanyl and methamphetamine trafficking and drew a $15 million U.S. reward for information leading to his capture.
NARCOTICS EXPERT REVEALS SLAIN DRUG KINGPIN EL MENCHO’S DEADLY IMPACT ON AMERICANS
Smoke rises from burning vehicles after a military operation that a government source said killed Mexican drug lord Nemesio Oseguera, known as “El Mencho,” in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, on Feb. 22, 2026. (Screen grab obtained from a social media video. @morelifediares via Instagram/YouTube via Reuters)
But De La Cruz cautioned that removing a cartel kingpin does not dismantle the organization.
“Cartels don’t collapse when you just cut the head off — they fracture,” he said. “And part of that fracture is going to see a lot of short-term violence while all these factions fight over territory.”
Following Oseguera’s killing on Feb. 22, the U.S. State Department issued travel alerts in multiple Mexican states, citing road blockages and criminal activity tied to security operations, underscoring concerns about instability in the aftermath.
Drawing on his military background studying enemy command structures, De La Cruz described the cartel fight as a long-term campaign requiring sustained pressure.
A mughsot of Ruben “Nemesio” Oseguera Cervantes, known as “El Mencho,” beside graffiti depicting the letters of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, covering the facade of an abandoned home in El Limoncito, in the Michoacan state of Mexico. (Eduardo Verdugo/AP Images; Drug Enforcement Administration)
“You don’t win a war with just one airstrike,” he said. “The goal is dismantling the networks and going after their financing.”
De La Cruz, who is running for Congress and is the brother of Texas Republican Rep. Monica De La Cruz, argued that CJNG’s Foreign Terrorist Organization designation gives U.S. law enforcement and intelligence agencies expanded tools to target cartel infrastructure and financial pipelines.
KAROLINE LEAVITT WARNS CARTELS TO ‘NOT LAY A FINGER’ ON AMERICANS OR PAY ‘SEVERE CONSEQUENCES’
A soldier stands guard by a charred vehicle after it was set on fire in Cointzio, Mexico, Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026, after the cartel leader’s death. (Armando Solis/AP Photo)
But he stressed that the fentanyl crisis should be viewed as a domestic security emergency, not a distant foreign problem.
“For decades, they were using their territories as launching pads to pump chemical weapons into America — because that’s exactly what fentanyl is,” he said.
De La Cruz, who said he worked side by side with Customs agents while deployed to the border, warned that cartel networks are highly adaptive and that any gains could be temporary without sustained follow-through.
SEN MULLIN URGES SPRING BREAKERS TO CANCEL TRIPS TO MEXICO AMID COUNTRY’S VIOLENCE: ‘NO ONE SHOULD BE GOING’
Smoke rises after violence hit Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. (Courtesy of Scott Posilkin)
“These networks, they’re going to adjust. They’re going to adapt and they’re going to adapt quickly,” he said. “We have to continue to go after the money launderers, especially on our side of the border, because that’s the full fight.”
While Oseguera’s death removes one of the most dominant figures in Mexico’s criminal underworld, De La Cruz said the mission is personal.
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“I took an oath to defend this country,” he said. “And I intend to stand by that oath.”
Fox News Digital’s Greg Wehner contributed to this report.
Stepheny Price covers crime, including missing persons, homicides and migrant crime. Send story tips to stepheny.price@fox.com.
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TUCSON, Ariz. — More than five weeks after the suspected abduction of Nancy Guthrie — the 84-year-old mother of “Today” co-host Savannah Guthrie — Arizona authorities say cadaver dogs used earlier in the investigation are not currently being deployed as the search continues.
The elder Guthrie is believed to have been kidnapped from her home in the Catalina Foothills in northern Tucson around 2:30 a.m. on Feb. 1.
While no suspects have been publicly identified, and she has not been found, cadaver dogs had been deployed earlier in the case, according to Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos. They have not been visible in weeks.
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A member of the Pima County Sheriff’s Office remains outside of Nancy Guthrie’s home, Monday, Feb. 9, 2026 in Tucson, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ty ONeil; Nathan Congleton/NBC via Getty Images)
“They are available if needed in the future,” he told Fox News Digital.
There are a number of reasons not to be using cadaver dogs at this stage in the investigation, according to Betsy Brantner Smith, a retired police sergeant and spokeswoman for the National Police Association.
NANCY GUTHRIE’S NEIGHBORS FLAG CAMERA GLITCHING, EXPERTS EXPLAIN WI-FI JAMMING
Savannah Guthrie visits the Today show at Rockefeller Plaza in New York on Thursday, March 5, 2026. (Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)
One would be if there’s credible information that Guthrie is still alive.
“Anything is possible,” Nanos told Fox News Digital last week, adding that he would not discuss specific leads or evidence in the case.
DNA IS STILL PENDING AS VOLUNTEERS FIND ANOTHER GLOVE IN THE SEARCH FOR NANCY GUTHRIE
Brantner Smith, who is not involved in the case, said departments may hold back K-9 resources for several reasons. Those could be that authorities don’t have a good idea of where to search, they think she might be concealed in a place where dogs would have a hard time detecting her, or they believe she’s been taken to Mexico, according to Brantner Smith.
Law enforcement agents walk around the neighborhood where Annie Guthrie, whose mother Nancy Guthrie has been missing for more than a week, lives just outside Tucson, Ariz. (Ty ONeil/AP Photo)
“I do believe that the sheriff’s department has much more information that they are not releasing to the public,” she told Fox News Digital. “And I’m not sure at this point why that would be, unless they have a solid suspect and don’t want to tip them off.”
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Most departments, including the Pima County Sheriff’s, don’t have their own cadaver dogs and borrow them from state and federal authorities or neighboring jurisdictions.
An investigator looks inside a culvert in the neighborhood where Annie Guthrie, whose mother Nancy Guthrie has been missing for more than a week, lives just outside Tucson, Ariz., on Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2026. (Ty ONeil/AP Photo)
In Guthrie’s case, the sheriff’s department sought K-9 assistance from the local Border Patrol office earlier in the investigation.
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PCSD deferred further comment on the K-9s to Customs and Border Protection, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
A member of the Pima County Sheriff’s Office walks around Nancy Guthrie’s home on Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2026 in Tucson, Ariz. (Ty ONeil/AP Photo)
The biggest lead so far has been Nest camera video showing a masked intruder on Guthrie’s doorstep the morning of her abduction.
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He is described as about 5 feet, 9 inches to 5 feet, 10 inches tall and of medium build.
Nancy Guthrie, 84, has been missing from her Arizona home since Jan. 31, 2026. (Don Arnold/WireImage/Getty Images)
He was wearing a black Ozark Trail backpack.
Authorities have said they won’t consider the case cold until they run out of viable leads to follow up on — and tens of thousands have come in so far.
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Savannah Guthrie has asked anyone with information to dial 1-800-CALL-FBI.
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There’s a combined reward of more than $1.2 million for information that leads to her mother’s recovery.
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