SAN FRANCISCO -- Federal agents triggered a series of raids early Thursday, arresting the head of the San Francisco chapter of the Hell's Angels and several members of the renegade motorcycle club for alleged drug and money laundering violations.

Sources told KTVU that the raids by heavily armed agents were conducted in San Francisco, Oakland and San Mateo. Agents from the FBI and Drug Enforcement Agency as well as San Francisco police officers took part in the raids that stemmed from an investigation dating back to 1999.

Among those taken into custody was Joseph Wilson, president of the San Francisco chapter. Other ranking members of the club were also taken into custody, but not identified by the sources.

Wilson allegedly headed up a major drug distribution network in the West Coast, according to the sources.

The raids targeted Wilson's home and the group's San Francisco clubhouse among other locations.

Several weapons and drugs were seized among the items taken when the federal search warrants were executed.

No other details were immediately available.