Sarah Oueslati
September 1st, 2023

Share

Maersk ship shipping containers. Photo: Pixabay)

According to several media motorcycle gang Hells Angels has moved in at the largest commercial port of Denmark, Aarhus. 

Hells Angels is an international motorcycle club. It was once the largest outlaw motorcycle clubs in Denmark. 

However, in recent years Hells Angels seems to have been limited, and groups such as Satudarah and Loyal To Familia have gained ground. 

Aarhus port 
According to Maersk, a total of 30 full-time and freelance employees at the port in Aarhus are connected to the rock club – Hells Angels. 

“Locally, it has been known for some time that the workers at the Port of Aarhus have these relationships with gang environments.” says Keith Svendsen, Executive Vice-President of Maersk to Finans. 

It is widely known that criminals often use shipping containers to transport illegal items such as cocaine into Europe.

However, Aarhus mayor and chairman of the port, Jacob Bundsgaard said to DR: “The Port of Aarhus is a critical infrastructure, and I am appalled that criminals are operating in the port. It is something we must look at immediately” 

Maersk, a past with criminal offences
In 2022, six employees at the Maersk-owned port of APM Terminals Moìn in Costa Rica have been charged with smuggling cocaine to Europe. According to the local media : “They belong to an organization dedicated to international drug trafficking.”

However, it is not the first time Maersk has been involved with criminal activities, since 2020 a total of 21 Maersk port employees have been arrested and involved in different drug smuggling cases. 

More recently, eight tons of cocaine were found in a Maersk reefer at Rotterdam, which makes the shipping company involved in one of the biggest drug cases the Netherlands has ever seen. Maersk itself has confirmed: “4.5 billion DKK is the eight tons of cocaine worth” 

According to Fagbladet3F it is an established fact that members of Hells Angels have been hired to work at the harbour in Aarhus.

A need for increased security 
Faced with multiple criminal offences, the question of tighter security is emerging.

Svendsen said to Finans: “The company is now actively trying to get the criminals removed” 

APM Terminals confirms that one of these criminal circles involved is the Hells Angels rock club.

Minister of Justice Peter Hummelgaard has sent a written reply to DR: “ The government of course takes the information from Maersk seriously, and my civil service is in dialogue with relevant authorities so that the information from Maersk can be thoroughly investigated. Having said that, the companies with which the persons in question are employed bear a responsibility to ensure proper conditions and to be able to vouch for their employees.”