Out of the three biker gangs involved in the Waco, Texas gunfight that left nine dead it is the Bandidos that are perhaps the most well-known. That’s not to say you should mess with the Cossacks or the Scimitars, of course, but the Bandidos have a reputation built on a foundation of aggression and fear.

So what exactly do we know about these two-wheeled nutters? Let’s break it down courtesy of Sky News:

• They are the largest of the three named gangs, and have an estimated 2,400 members in 22 countries around the world.
• The FBI has classified them as an organised crime syndicate, engaged in murder, drug trafficking, money laundering, extortion and gun running.
• The club was formed by Vietnam War veteran Donald Chambers in San Leon, Texas, in 1966, and their motto is “we are the people our parents warned us about”.
• Their patch is a man in a sombrero holding a sword and a gun. They have a saying: “Cut one, we all bleed.”
• Officials have classified them as a “Tier 2 threat” – the second-highest level – “responsible for a disproportionate amount of crime across urban, suburban and rural areas of Texas”.
• According to the Texas Department of Public Safety, they are the most dangerous biker gang in the state.
• Worldwide, the Bandidos were involved in the “Great Nordic Biker War” with Hells Angels in Scandinavia from 1994 to 1997.
• Gun fights, bombs and even an anti-tank missile fired at a prison cell holding a Bandidos member resulted in an estimated 11 murders and 74 attempted murders.
• They were also involved in the largest mass killing in the history of Ontario, Canada, when they carried out an “internal cleansing” in 2006. Eight members were found shot dead in cars.
• They’ve been around a long time and they’ve spread into Europe and Australia and more recently South East Asia. They are a very powerful, very aggressive group who protect their turf hard.

The long and the short of it? These guys are not to be messed with so you would be best advised not to steal their parking spots.

Information supplied by Sky News.