Hells Angel who ‘led drug and sex ring’ may walk free

ONE of Europe’s most notorious Hells Angels bikers has told a judge he was just a regular holidaymaker in Mallorca as a long-awaited trial began into his alleged drug and prostitution ring on the Spanish tourist island.

Frank Hanebuth, a German former boxer who stands at 6ft 5in, refused the invitation to sit as he went on trial in Madrid, predicting that his testimony would not take long.

The 58-year-old consulted notes scrawled on the palm of his left hand as he was asked to provide dates of his visits to Mallorca.

Prosecutors are asking for 13 years in jail for Hanebuth, but an early plea deal may result in the man accused of terrorising the island destination avoiding jail.

Hanebuth was arrested in 2013 after a German citizen had reported being targeted by the Palma Beach Hells Angels in a business dispute that became violent.

Spanish police claim to have uncovered a network of brothels, drug trafficking and protection rackets in nightlife hotspots on Mallorca, with biker gang members brought to the island from around Europe.

Hanebuth is accused of membership in a criminal organisation, money laundering, making threats and illegal possession of firearms.

Prostitution, semi-legal in Spain, was one of the Hells Angels chapter’s “main sources of income”, prosecutors claim, saying they coerced women into working at brothels and made them have surgery to be more “productive”.

Hanebuth spent two years in custody in Spain before being released in 2015. On his return to his home city of Hanover, Hanebuth was welcomed like a head of state back from exile, touring the streets in a white limousine as wellwishers flocked to greet him. He did not seek a deal. The trial continues.