WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.399 You know, when we think about these huge figures 00:00:02.399 --> 00:00:05.820 in organized crime, these warlords, really, there's 00:00:05.820 --> 00:00:08.019 a certain image that comes to mind. Right, the 00:00:08.019 --> 00:00:10.099 classic Scarface archetype. Exactly. Someone 00:00:10.099 --> 00:00:13.480 who is just, you know, physically huge. A brawler 00:00:13.480 --> 00:00:16.039 who fought his way up from nothing. But that's 00:00:16.039 --> 00:00:18.300 not what we're looking at today. Not at all. 00:00:18.460 --> 00:00:20.879 No. Today we're talking about a man they called 00:00:20.879 --> 00:00:24.769 the Sun King. Sol Kungan. In Danish. Yeah. And 00:00:24.769 --> 00:00:27.350 that's a direct reference to Louis XIV. It wasn't 00:00:27.350 --> 00:00:30.550 a compliment either. It was about absolute unquestioned 00:00:30.550 --> 00:00:33.990 power. And this man, Jim Tindon, or Big Jim, 00:00:34.070 --> 00:00:36.250 well, he's the paradox that really hooked me 00:00:36.250 --> 00:00:38.609 for this deep dive. Here's a guy with spinal 00:00:38.609 --> 00:00:41.090 arthritis so bad he had to take early retirement 00:00:41.090 --> 00:00:43.969 as a mechanic. And yet. And yet he becomes one 00:00:43.969 --> 00:00:46.609 of the most powerful, most feared outlaw bikers 00:00:46.609 --> 00:00:48.950 in all of Europe and Asia. It's an incredible 00:00:48.950 --> 00:00:51.570 story of, well, it's really about organizational 00:00:51.570 --> 00:00:54.490 expansion. We're going to look at how a dyslexic 00:00:54.490 --> 00:00:56.710 auto mechanic from a completely normal working 00:00:56.710 --> 00:01:00.149 class family built an empire of 1 ,600 bikers, 00:01:00.149 --> 00:01:04.010 took on the Hells Angels, and basically started 00:01:04.010 --> 00:01:07.769 the Nordic Biker War. And the scale is just wild. 00:01:08.030 --> 00:01:10.430 I mean, we're talking anti -tank missiles and 00:01:10.430 --> 00:01:13.650 peace treaties on live television. But it's also 00:01:13.650 --> 00:01:16.620 a story about the inevitable fall. It's about 00:01:16.620 --> 00:01:20.379 what happens when that absolute rule starts to 00:01:20.379 --> 00:01:22.980 crumble. So let's dig in. We've got biographical 00:01:22.980 --> 00:01:26.260 records, a ton of crime reporting. Where does 00:01:26.260 --> 00:01:29.840 the story of Big Jim even start? He certainly 00:01:29.840 --> 00:01:31.680 doesn't sound like he was born for this life. 00:01:31.859 --> 00:01:34.159 Far from it. No, it starts in North Zealand, 00:01:34.260 --> 00:01:37.219 Denmark. He was born Jan Leef Tindon back in 00:01:37.219 --> 00:01:40.150 1961. Hmm. And if you look at his early life, 00:01:40.209 --> 00:01:41.969 there's nothing there, nothing that points to 00:01:41.969 --> 00:01:44.790 future international gang president. The sources 00:01:44.790 --> 00:01:47.189 describe it as totally ordinary factory worker 00:01:47.189 --> 00:01:49.650 parents. Correct. And school was a real struggle 00:01:49.650 --> 00:01:52.049 for him. He was dyslexic. And, you know, back 00:01:52.049 --> 00:01:53.930 in the 60s and 70s, that wasn't always understood. 00:01:53.989 --> 00:01:56.629 People described him as quiet, introverted even. 00:01:56.790 --> 00:01:58.709 See, that's the part that gets me. An introvert. 00:01:58.709 --> 00:02:00.310 You just don't picture an introvert leading a 00:02:00.310 --> 00:02:02.609 biker army. How does that even happen? Well, 00:02:02.650 --> 00:02:04.689 I think that's the key, right? It suggests he 00:02:04.689 --> 00:02:07.159 had to learn a different kind of power. It wasn't 00:02:07.159 --> 00:02:09.099 about being the loudest person in the room. He 00:02:09.099 --> 00:02:11.259 learned to be strategic. He started as a mechanic 00:02:11.259 --> 00:02:13.960 right after an early interest in mopeds. He did. 00:02:14.120 --> 00:02:18.460 But then came the first major obstacle. His health. 00:02:18.620 --> 00:02:21.719 The spinal arthritis. And it was severe. Severe 00:02:21.719 --> 00:02:23.780 enough that he was forced into early retirement 00:02:23.780 --> 00:02:26.460 from his job. So you have this young guy not 00:02:26.460 --> 00:02:28.800 even out of his teens really who can't do manual 00:02:28.800 --> 00:02:31.460 labor. He's not going to win a fist fight. But 00:02:31.460 --> 00:02:33.889 in his mind. He's looking for something more. 00:02:34.069 --> 00:02:36.449 He's looking for a place to belong, a tribe. 00:02:36.990 --> 00:02:40.229 Exactly. So Auguste's parents' wishes, he joins 00:02:40.229 --> 00:02:44.430 his first club, the 666 Club, at just 17. But 00:02:44.430 --> 00:02:46.389 the real strategic thinking, that came a bit 00:02:46.389 --> 00:02:48.090 later. Okay, so this is where it gets interesting. 00:02:48.389 --> 00:02:51.069 He joins a group called the Morticians Motorcycle 00:02:51.069 --> 00:02:54.949 Club. And at the time, they were a support club 00:02:54.949 --> 00:02:57.729 for the Hells Angels. What does that actually 00:02:57.729 --> 00:02:59.870 mean in this world? Think of it like a minor 00:02:59.870 --> 00:03:02.710 league team. You're a vassal. You do the dirty 00:03:02.710 --> 00:03:05.030 work. You show loyalty. And in exchange, the 00:03:05.030 --> 00:03:07.389 big club, the Hells Angels, gives you protection 00:03:07.389 --> 00:03:09.069 and lets you exist. Right. You're the little 00:03:09.069 --> 00:03:11.469 brother. But Tindon didn't want to be the little 00:03:11.469 --> 00:03:14.789 brother. Not for long. In 1988, the morticians 00:03:14.789 --> 00:03:17.250 split off. And you have to understand, in the 00:03:17.250 --> 00:03:19.729 early 90s, the Hells Angels were on a mission. 00:03:19.849 --> 00:03:22.689 They wanted a total monopoly. They were crushing 00:03:22.689 --> 00:03:25.050 smaller clubs. So it was a join or die situation. 00:03:25.530 --> 00:03:28.449 Or in this case, get eaten or find a way to fight 00:03:28.449 --> 00:03:31.560 back. So Tindan, who's leading the Morticians 00:03:31.560 --> 00:03:34.599 now, he does something smart. He merges with 00:03:34.599 --> 00:03:37.000 other clubs that the Angels had rejected. They 00:03:37.000 --> 00:03:39.620 form the Undertaker's MC. I do love the branding 00:03:39.620 --> 00:03:42.979 there. From Morticians to Undertakers, very consistent. 00:03:43.159 --> 00:03:45.740 Ah, yes. But they were still just a local Danish 00:03:45.740 --> 00:03:47.620 club. They couldn't stand up to the global might 00:03:47.620 --> 00:03:49.000 of the Hell's Angels on their own. They were 00:03:49.000 --> 00:03:51.560 isolated. So he needed a bigger shield. He needed 00:03:51.560 --> 00:03:54.599 a nuclear deterrent. So in 1992, he makes his 00:03:54.599 --> 00:03:57.370 big power move. He reaches out to the Bandidos 00:03:57.370 --> 00:04:00.169 leadership in the U .S. and in France. He's basically 00:04:00.169 --> 00:04:02.569 shopping for a franchise. That's a perfect way 00:04:02.569 --> 00:04:04.669 to put it. Yeah. Patching over to a club like 00:04:04.669 --> 00:04:07.169 the Bandidos gives you instant global recognition. 00:04:07.509 --> 00:04:09.469 It says, if you mess with us here in Denmark, 00:04:09.669 --> 00:04:11.610 you're messing with thousands of us all over 00:04:11.610 --> 00:04:14.610 the world. But it worked. It worked. December 00:04:14.610 --> 00:04:18.769 17, 1993. The Undertakers officially become Bandidos. 00:04:19.500 --> 00:04:22.540 And just like that, the classic American rivalry 00:04:22.540 --> 00:04:25.339 between the Angels and the Bandidos had arrived 00:04:25.339 --> 00:04:27.899 in Scandinavia. But the Angels didn't just accept 00:04:27.899 --> 00:04:29.699 that, did they? There had to be some rules of 00:04:29.699 --> 00:04:32.019 engagement. Oh, there were. The Hells Angels 00:04:32.019 --> 00:04:35.540 basically said, OK, fine, you can exist, but 00:04:35.540 --> 00:04:37.839 you stay in your two Danish chapters. That's 00:04:37.839 --> 00:04:40.319 it. Don't expand. Stay in your lane. Exactly. 00:04:40.860 --> 00:04:43.100 This is your tiny piece of the market. Don't 00:04:43.100 --> 00:04:45.720 get greedy. And Tindon, of course. He had no 00:04:45.720 --> 00:04:48.180 intention of staying in his lane. Barely a month 00:04:48.180 --> 00:04:51.480 later, January 1994, he makes a move that lights 00:04:51.480 --> 00:04:54.420 the fuse on the entire thing. He makes a club 00:04:54.420 --> 00:04:57.139 called the Morbids MC in Helsingborg, Sweden, 00:04:57.360 --> 00:05:00.360 a probationary banditos chapter. Wait, Helsingborg? 00:05:00.420 --> 00:05:02.639 Why is that so significant? Because it's in Sweden. 00:05:03.040 --> 00:05:05.139 It's a crown of the water. It was the territory 00:05:05.139 --> 00:05:07.560 of the Malmo Hells Angels. He didn't just step 00:05:07.560 --> 00:05:09.779 on their toes. He built a fortress in their front 00:05:09.779 --> 00:05:12.000 yard. It was a deliberate provocation. It was 00:05:12.000 --> 00:05:14.600 a declaration of war. And the Malmo Angels saw 00:05:14.600 --> 00:05:16.339 it that way immediately. That was the spark. 00:05:16.459 --> 00:05:18.439 That was the start of the Nordic Biker War. And 00:05:18.439 --> 00:05:21.060 let's be clear. When we say war, we're not talking 00:05:21.060 --> 00:05:25.000 about fistfights. No. We are talking military 00:05:25.000 --> 00:05:29.300 -grade weapons, car bombs, anti -tank rockets 00:05:29.300 --> 00:05:32.870 fired into clubhouses, shootouts in public. At 00:05:32.870 --> 00:05:35.730 airports, the violence just exploded across all 00:05:35.730 --> 00:05:37.629 of Scandinavia. So what about the leadership 00:05:37.629 --> 00:05:40.129 back in America? Surely the banditos' mother 00:05:40.129 --> 00:05:42.430 chapter in Texas didn't want this kind of heat. 00:05:42.629 --> 00:05:45.209 They hated it. This is where you really see Tindon's 00:05:45.209 --> 00:05:47.310 style. The American leadership of both clubs 00:05:47.310 --> 00:05:50.069 tried to shut it down. They knew war is bad for 00:05:50.069 --> 00:05:51.990 business. It brings the police. It stops the 00:05:51.990 --> 00:05:54.930 cash flow. But Tindon just ignored them. He did 00:05:54.930 --> 00:05:56.829 more than ignore them. He actively undermined 00:05:56.829 --> 00:05:59.689 them. The sources are clear. The mother chapter 00:05:59.689 --> 00:06:02.259 in Houston could not control him. He just kept 00:06:02.259 --> 00:06:04.579 escalating, kept supporting retaliation. He was 00:06:04.579 --> 00:06:07.019 a rogue general. The confidence on this guy. 00:06:07.160 --> 00:06:09.600 Or maybe the arrogance. It's a fine line. And 00:06:09.600 --> 00:06:11.439 in the middle of all this chaos, his own power 00:06:11.439 --> 00:06:14.980 just skyrocketed. In 1995, he moves to that front 00:06:14.980 --> 00:06:17.720 line chapter in Helsingborg and gets named the 00:06:17.720 --> 00:06:19.579 Bandidos European President. And that's where 00:06:19.579 --> 00:06:21.779 the nickname comes from. Right. Sol Kangen. Yes. 00:06:22.259 --> 00:06:25.459 The Sun King. His own members gave him that name 00:06:25.459 --> 00:06:28.740 after Louis XIV. It meant he ruled by decree. 00:06:29.160 --> 00:06:31.949 There were no votes. There was no debate. It 00:06:31.949 --> 00:06:34.649 was just Jim's way. It's an incredible image. 00:06:34.870 --> 00:06:38.370 A quiet, dyslexic guy with a bad back now ruling 00:06:38.370 --> 00:06:42.149 like an absolute monarch. But wars are costly 00:06:42.149 --> 00:06:46.689 for everyone. And terrible for business. By summer 00:06:46.689 --> 00:06:49.370 1997, the war had dragged on for three years. 00:06:49.689 --> 00:06:52.290 Nobody was winning. Both sides were bleeding 00:06:52.290 --> 00:06:54.819 money, members, and the police. Pressure was 00:06:54.819 --> 00:06:57.139 immense. So they finally decided to talk. They 00:06:57.139 --> 00:07:00.160 did. And Tindon was actually a key figure in 00:07:00.160 --> 00:07:02.699 starting the peace process, which leads to one 00:07:02.699 --> 00:07:04.339 of the most surreal moments in modern Danish 00:07:04.339 --> 00:07:08.040 history. September 25, 1997. Press conference. 00:07:08.220 --> 00:07:10.160 A live televised press conference. You've got 00:07:10.160 --> 00:07:12.399 Jim Tindall on one side and a Hells Angels president, 00:07:12.579 --> 00:07:14.959 Ben Blondie Nielsen, on the other. Two guys have 00:07:14.959 --> 00:07:16.639 been trying to kill each other for years. Sitting 00:07:16.639 --> 00:07:19.139 side by side under the hot studio lights, shaking 00:07:19.139 --> 00:07:21.259 hands on primetime television and announcing 00:07:21.259 --> 00:07:23.319 the war was over. I mean, can you imagine seeing 00:07:23.319 --> 00:07:25.399 that on the news? It gives them this air of legitimacy, 00:07:25.620 --> 00:07:27.540 like they're heads of state ending a conflict. 00:07:27.860 --> 00:07:30.459 It absolutely did. But the really amazing part 00:07:30.459 --> 00:07:33.199 wasn't the handshake. It was the secret treaty 00:07:33.199 --> 00:07:36.000 they signed. A secret treaty. A literal written 00:07:36.000 --> 00:07:39.000 document. Yes. They didn't just agree to stop 00:07:39.000 --> 00:07:41.699 shooting. They carved up the criminal underworld. 00:07:42.120 --> 00:07:44.660 The sources say they divided territory right 00:07:44.660 --> 00:07:47.600 down to specific bars, cafes, and nightclubs. 00:07:47.639 --> 00:07:51.019 This pub is ours. That strip club is yours. That's 00:07:51.019 --> 00:07:53.300 pure cartel behavior. It's market collusion. 00:07:53.519 --> 00:07:56.639 100%. And this was Tindon's golden age. He became 00:07:56.639 --> 00:07:59.959 a media personality, going on debate shows, arguing 00:07:59.959 --> 00:08:03.000 against laws, trying to ban biker clubs. He presented 00:08:03.000 --> 00:08:06.199 himself as this reasonable, misunderstood leader. 00:08:06.360 --> 00:08:08.939 The untouchable boss. But the police were always 00:08:08.939 --> 00:08:11.500 watching. Always. Which brings us to a raid in 00:08:11.500 --> 00:08:14.120 2008 that shows you just how seriously the authorities 00:08:14.120 --> 00:08:16.819 took him. The one in Helsingborg. Yes. The police 00:08:16.819 --> 00:08:19.240 raided the clubhouse where he was living. But 00:08:19.240 --> 00:08:20.819 they didn't just show up with a warrant. They 00:08:20.819 --> 00:08:23.560 brought a plaza and sand cap. An armored car. 00:08:23.860 --> 00:08:26.779 An armored car? For what? He was accused of stealing 00:08:26.779 --> 00:08:29.139 three racing motorcycles. Wait, they brought 00:08:29.139 --> 00:08:31.579 a tank to arrest a guy for motorcycle theft? 00:08:31.939 --> 00:08:34.080 It shows you what they expected. They thought 00:08:34.080 --> 00:08:36.659 any attempt to arrest him could turn into a full 00:08:36.659 --> 00:08:39.080 -blown firefight. And he beat the charge, didn't 00:08:39.080 --> 00:08:41.740 he? He did. He claimed he was actually trying 00:08:41.740 --> 00:08:44.940 to return the bikes. He was acquitted. Teflon 00:08:44.940 --> 00:08:47.259 Jim. It seemed like nothing could touch him. 00:08:47.419 --> 00:08:50.500 For a while. But his downfall wasn't a bullet 00:08:50.500 --> 00:08:52.679 or a prison sentence. It was something much more 00:08:52.679 --> 00:08:55.379 mundane and much more tragic. It was a car crash. 00:08:55.659 --> 00:08:57.700 Right. This is where the story really takes a 00:08:57.700 --> 00:09:01.340 turn. October 7, 2012. Tendon is driving his 00:09:01.340 --> 00:09:04.480 Audi Q7 in Malmo about 2 in the morning, coming 00:09:04.480 --> 00:09:07.679 home from a party. He crashes. He's okay, mostly. 00:09:08.100 --> 00:09:11.259 Minor injuries. He is. But his passenger, Carlos 00:09:11.259 --> 00:09:14.549 Akison, a fellow bandito, a brother. He suffers 00:09:14.549 --> 00:09:16.610 catastrophic brain damage. He goes into a coma. 00:09:16.830 --> 00:09:19.269 That's just awful. It gets worse. Police test 00:09:19.269 --> 00:09:21.570 Tindon, and they find traces of cocaine and THC 00:09:21.570 --> 00:09:23.669 in his system. But the investigation drags on. 00:09:23.870 --> 00:09:26.629 And while it's dragging on, Carlos Icason dies 00:09:26.629 --> 00:09:29.529 from his injuries in 2014. So what does Tindon 00:09:29.529 --> 00:09:31.549 do in this world where loyalty is supposed to 00:09:31.549 --> 00:09:33.529 be everything? Well, this is where the Sun King 00:09:33.529 --> 00:09:36.590 myth really shatters. After Acheson dies, the 00:09:36.590 --> 00:09:38.490 police want to talk to him again, and he disappears. 00:09:38.629 --> 00:09:42.210 He just vanishes in June 2014. They suspect he 00:09:42.210 --> 00:09:44.250 fled the country. So the man who stared down 00:09:44.250 --> 00:09:48.389 the Hells Angels ran from a DUI charge. That's 00:09:48.389 --> 00:09:50.409 what it looks like. He didn't resurface until 00:09:50.409 --> 00:09:52.889 February 2015. And he was convicted. He was. 00:09:53.090 --> 00:09:56.929 December 2015. Aggravated drunk driving, gross 00:09:56.929 --> 00:10:00.669 negligence, grievous bodily harm. He got nine 00:10:00.669 --> 00:10:02.929 months in prison. Which seems surprisingly light. 00:10:03.149 --> 00:10:05.570 Well, it got even lighter. He appealed. And in 00:10:05.570 --> 00:10:08.330 2016, the appeals court threw out the main drunk 00:10:08.330 --> 00:10:10.909 driving charge on a technicality. The sentence 00:10:10.909 --> 00:10:13.830 was reduced to probation and a small fine. Wow. 00:10:13.950 --> 00:10:16.889 So no jail time for the crash. No. But the damage 00:10:16.889 --> 00:10:19.809 was done. The aura of invincibility was gone. 00:10:20.049 --> 00:10:22.090 You can't be the king when you're seen as responsible 00:10:22.090 --> 00:10:24.309 for the death of one of your own men through 00:10:24.309 --> 00:10:26.210 simple negligence. And his time at the top was 00:10:26.210 --> 00:10:27.809 already over by then, wasn't it? He'd already 00:10:27.809 --> 00:10:30.830 stepped down. He had. In June 2012, just a few 00:10:30.830 --> 00:10:33.330 months before the crash, he resigned as president. 00:10:33.470 --> 00:10:35.480 Do we know why? Was he pushed out? The sources 00:10:35.480 --> 00:10:37.820 are quiet on that, but look at the timing. In 00:10:37.820 --> 00:10:40.600 2011, the entire global banditos organization 00:10:40.600 --> 00:10:44.019 fractured. The western chapters broke away from 00:10:44.019 --> 00:10:46.659 the eastern ones. The empire he built was cracking. 00:10:46.919 --> 00:10:49.179 So his reign was ending as his world was shrinking. 00:10:49.419 --> 00:10:52.360 Exactly. But you can't deny the scale of what 00:10:52.360 --> 00:10:55.820 he built. For 18 years, he oversaw the opening 00:10:55.820 --> 00:10:58.620 of 130 chapters. He was one of the three most 00:10:58.620 --> 00:11:00.919 powerful banditos on the planet. A hell of a 00:11:00.919 --> 00:11:02.899 long way from that mechanic's garage. So what's 00:11:02.899 --> 00:11:06.950 he doing now? Gone. Mostly. He's back in Denmark, 00:11:07.129 --> 00:11:09.409 keeps a very low profile. But he did make one 00:11:09.409 --> 00:11:12.470 recent appearance. A brief one. In August 2020, 00:11:12.710 --> 00:11:14.610 the Bandidos were having issues with a rival 00:11:14.610 --> 00:11:18.070 club, Sadudara. They held a show of force, and 00:11:18.070 --> 00:11:21.090 Tindan showed up. A rare appearance. Just a little 00:11:21.090 --> 00:11:23.769 reminder. Maybe. But he's not the Sun King anymore. 00:11:24.190 --> 00:11:26.269 So when you boil it all down, what's the big 00:11:26.269 --> 00:11:29.110 takeaway from the story of Jim Tindon? For me, 00:11:29.110 --> 00:11:31.289 it shows that even these outlaw groups are bound 00:11:31.289 --> 00:11:34.549 by the rules of politics and business. To build 00:11:34.549 --> 00:11:36.950 what he built, Tindon couldn't just be a thug. 00:11:36.990 --> 00:11:40.049 He had to be a CEO, a strategist, a diplomat. 00:11:40.070 --> 00:11:43.490 He negotiated treaties, managed franchises. It 00:11:43.490 --> 00:11:45.450 was a corporation that just happened to be criminal. 00:11:45.629 --> 00:11:48.179 Precisely. But there's a deeper irony in his 00:11:48.179 --> 00:11:51.200 fall. Which is? He survived it all. He survived 00:11:51.200 --> 00:11:53.500 the war with the Hells Angels, the assassination 00:11:53.500 --> 00:11:56.059 attempts, the police raids with armored cars. 00:11:56.320 --> 00:11:59.500 He beat every single external threat they threw 00:11:59.500 --> 00:12:02.100 at him. But in the end, he couldn't beat himself. 00:12:02.500 --> 00:12:05.320 That's it. His legacy wasn't sealed in a blaze 00:12:05.320 --> 00:12:08.440 of glory. It was sealed by a moment of bad judgment 00:12:08.440 --> 00:12:12.269 on a quiet road in Malmo. A preventable accident. 00:12:12.389 --> 00:12:14.730 It's a powerful lesson on the illusion of control. 00:12:15.070 --> 00:12:17.570 You can build an empire, command a loyal army, 00:12:17.730 --> 00:12:20.669 but you can never, ever outrun your own human 00:12:20.669 --> 00:12:22.970 failings. And the bill for your mistakes, it 00:12:22.970 --> 00:12:25.289 always comes due one way or another. And that's 00:12:25.289 --> 00:12:27.750 where we will leave it for this deep dive. Thanks 00:12:27.750 --> 00:12:29.230 for listening. We will catch you on the next 00:12:29.230 --> 00:12:29.389 one.