Hell's Angels crackdown in Canada
- Thread starter Morris Wanchuk
- Start date
Infamous 2001 Hells' bust pales in comparison
Hells Angels dealt greatest blow ever
MONTREAL — The Hells Angels were dealt a significant blow Wednesday after police in Quebec, New Brunswick, the Dominican Republic and France arrested more than 150 full-patch members and associates in a massive sweep.
Operation Sharqc targeted the biker gang’s leadership and experts say it will most certainly affect street-level drug trafficking in Quebec, where the investigation was centred.
“The people in Quebec have really a great reason to laud their police because Quebec is the only jurisdiction in the world right now where law enforcement has persisted 24 hours a day over more than a decade now to try and shut down the Hells Angels and their drug network,” said Toronto author Yves Lavigne, who’s penned several books on the notorious biker gang.
“This will severely hurt their income and severely hurt their ability to supply the street gangs that sell their drugs for them.”
While many have compared Wednesday’s bust to a similar one in spring 2001 in which 122 Hells Angels members and sympathizers were arrested, Lavigne said this one is particularly significant as it yielded a number of gang leaders.
It also targeted individuals in the Dominican Republic — an important point along the pipeline that carries drugs from Colombia to Canada, he said.
Michel Auger, a former newspaper crime reporter who survived a biker hit several years ago, agreed.
“The 2001 (operation) was a small, small celebration if you compare it to today,” he said, noting that operation targeted the Nomad chapter and those responsible for the violence linked to the biker wars of the 1990s.
“As for today, the whole of the Hells Angels organization was targeted by the police forces.”
More than 1,200 police officers from about 20 municipal, provincial and federal police organizations participated in the bust.
Daniel Guerin, a spokesman for the Montreal-area Laval police department, said 111 full-patch members were nabbed, while four others were prospective members. Another 29 were associates of the criminal organization and 11 were retired bikers.
“The total number of full-patch members, if not the entire membership of the Hells Angels, was arrested,” Guerin said.
The alleged crimes, which include murder, attempted murder, conspiracy to commit murder, drug trafficking and gangsterism, occurred between 1992 and 2009.
Guerin said the investigation, which took three years and involved some 200 police officers and several prosecutors, has also helped solve 22 murders, many of which date back to the biker wars of the 1990s between the Angels and the Rock Machine.
Guerin said police in Quebec also seized Hells bunkers in Montreal, Longueuil, Trois-Rivieres, Sherbrooke and Quebec City as well as the site of the Sorel-Tracy bunker that was recently set ablaze.
“We hope that (the arrests) are very important and that they will stop the violence and the drug dealing in Montreal and all over the Quebec area,” he said.
RCMP Sgt. Claude Tremblay said a full-patch member of the notorious biker gang and several of his associates — all in their 40s and 50s — were arrested in New Brunswick.
Police also seized a quantity of guns and drugs from the suspects who were allegedly involved in the transport of drugs between Quebec, the United States and the Maritimes.
“New Brunswick is the corridor to the Maritimes and everything comes through our highways and we have a lot of small airports through the region,” Tremblay said.
“There’s a lot of trafficking going on. It’s mostly related to underground crime and a lot of it is run by the Hells Angels.”
The arrests come two weeks after biker-turned-informant Gerald Gallant — who was already serving a life sentence for a 2001 slaying — pleaded guilty to 27 additional charges of first-degree murder.
Acting on information provided by Gallant, provincial police arrested 10 people last month in connection with dozens of murders linked to outlaw biker gangs and other criminal elements over a 25-year period.
Guerin said police employed numerous investigative techniques leading up to Wednesday’s sweep but noted it did not involve a “super star” coming out of the woodwork and admitting to crimes.
Still, both Lavigne and Auger say the only way to accomplish a sweep like this is through the use of informants who are themselves important gang members.
With major players jailed, Lavigne expects the drug supply will dry up.
He believes police in Quebec will now use the opportunity to target the street gangs responsible for dealing.
Still, he said, it does not spell the end of the Hells.
“Except for some significant arrests in Ontario, the Hells Angels are virtually untouchable in the rest of Canada,” Lavigne said.
“The police are either not interested, there’s a lot of incompetence and there’s a lot of corruption within law enforcement.”
Even in Quebec, it’s not game over for the Hells, Auger added.
“It’s not dismantled,” he said. “They are arrested, they are charged, they are not convicted. It’s a little early to get to a conclusion but they will be disorganized for a while.”
http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2009/04/15/9120276-cp.html
Hells Angels dealt greatest blow ever
MONTREAL — The Hells Angels were dealt a significant blow Wednesday after police in Quebec, New Brunswick, the Dominican Republic and France arrested more than 150 full-patch members and associates in a massive sweep.
Operation Sharqc targeted the biker gang’s leadership and experts say it will most certainly affect street-level drug trafficking in Quebec, where the investigation was centred.
“The people in Quebec have really a great reason to laud their police because Quebec is the only jurisdiction in the world right now where law enforcement has persisted 24 hours a day over more than a decade now to try and shut down the Hells Angels and their drug network,” said Toronto author Yves Lavigne, who’s penned several books on the notorious biker gang.
“This will severely hurt their income and severely hurt their ability to supply the street gangs that sell their drugs for them.”
While many have compared Wednesday’s bust to a similar one in spring 2001 in which 122 Hells Angels members and sympathizers were arrested, Lavigne said this one is particularly significant as it yielded a number of gang leaders.
It also targeted individuals in the Dominican Republic — an important point along the pipeline that carries drugs from Colombia to Canada, he said.
Michel Auger, a former newspaper crime reporter who survived a biker hit several years ago, agreed.
“The 2001 (operation) was a small, small celebration if you compare it to today,” he said, noting that operation targeted the Nomad chapter and those responsible for the violence linked to the biker wars of the 1990s.
“As for today, the whole of the Hells Angels organization was targeted by the police forces.”
More than 1,200 police officers from about 20 municipal, provincial and federal police organizations participated in the bust.
Daniel Guerin, a spokesman for the Montreal-area Laval police department, said 111 full-patch members were nabbed, while four others were prospective members. Another 29 were associates of the criminal organization and 11 were retired bikers.
“The total number of full-patch members, if not the entire membership of the Hells Angels, was arrested,” Guerin said.
The alleged crimes, which include murder, attempted murder, conspiracy to commit murder, drug trafficking and gangsterism, occurred between 1992 and 2009.
Guerin said the investigation, which took three years and involved some 200 police officers and several prosecutors, has also helped solve 22 murders, many of which date back to the biker wars of the 1990s between the Angels and the Rock Machine.
Guerin said police in Quebec also seized Hells bunkers in Montreal, Longueuil, Trois-Rivieres, Sherbrooke and Quebec City as well as the site of the Sorel-Tracy bunker that was recently set ablaze.
“We hope that (the arrests) are very important and that they will stop the violence and the drug dealing in Montreal and all over the Quebec area,” he said.
RCMP Sgt. Claude Tremblay said a full-patch member of the notorious biker gang and several of his associates — all in their 40s and 50s — were arrested in New Brunswick.
Police also seized a quantity of guns and drugs from the suspects who were allegedly involved in the transport of drugs between Quebec, the United States and the Maritimes.
“New Brunswick is the corridor to the Maritimes and everything comes through our highways and we have a lot of small airports through the region,” Tremblay said.
“There’s a lot of trafficking going on. It’s mostly related to underground crime and a lot of it is run by the Hells Angels.”
The arrests come two weeks after biker-turned-informant Gerald Gallant — who was already serving a life sentence for a 2001 slaying — pleaded guilty to 27 additional charges of first-degree murder.
Acting on information provided by Gallant, provincial police arrested 10 people last month in connection with dozens of murders linked to outlaw biker gangs and other criminal elements over a 25-year period.
Guerin said police employed numerous investigative techniques leading up to Wednesday’s sweep but noted it did not involve a “super star” coming out of the woodwork and admitting to crimes.
Still, both Lavigne and Auger say the only way to accomplish a sweep like this is through the use of informants who are themselves important gang members.
With major players jailed, Lavigne expects the drug supply will dry up.
He believes police in Quebec will now use the opportunity to target the street gangs responsible for dealing.
Still, he said, it does not spell the end of the Hells.
“Except for some significant arrests in Ontario, the Hells Angels are virtually untouchable in the rest of Canada,” Lavigne said.
“The police are either not interested, there’s a lot of incompetence and there’s a lot of corruption within law enforcement.”
Even in Quebec, it’s not game over for the Hells, Auger added.
“It’s not dismantled,” he said. “They are arrested, they are charged, they are not convicted. It’s a little early to get to a conclusion but they will be disorganized for a while.”
http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2009/04/15/9120276-cp.html
Man that is something.... will be interesting to see how many make bail.... and we all know charging is one thing... convicting another.
Will be interesting to see what this does to the supply and price of drugs... already recently there had been an uptick in the price of some.
Also will be interesting to see who tries to fill any void.
But as for now, it seems like a very impressive operation.
Will be interesting to see what this does to the supply and price of drugs... already recently there had been an uptick in the price of some.
Also will be interesting to see who tries to fill any void.
But as for now, it seems like a very impressive operation.
daddyxxx said:
I understand what you say.... always had the feeling h-a would leave me alone if I caused them no problem but street gangs would beat the shit out of you just for the heck of it...
I don't want to be taken as a supporter of h-a or anything like it but if the government were as well run we'd be a lot better off... have to be a bit vague here but saw a situation where on night one LE took down an enterprise and on night 2 it was up and running again...
This indeed was a big blow to H A but it will never erase them for good
Like Dee said, they usually dont bother you if you dont bother them. I once
delivered a pizza to one of their bunkers, they were nice.
Like Dee said, they usually dont bother you if you dont bother them. I once
delivered a pizza to one of their bunkers, they were nice.
master_bates said:
Daniel Desrocher's parents won't agree with you on this, nor will the relatives of many innocents killed within the crossfire of rival biker gang wars.
http://books.google.ca/books?id=mVq...WoneAF&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2
Doc, I agree but, the link you post is showing exactly that: Hells and other bikers want to keep a low profile and the use of bombs, specially that one who killed a kid, was never the method of choice because it's too visible and might have too many collateral damages. It does also happen that biker wannabe will never get full patch because they're too flamboyant.
I knew a few Hells in my young years, some who were "active" in the "club policy enforcment" and one thing I can say is, even for them, a child is sacred. I wouldn't be surprised if the guy responsible of little Daniel's death is no longer alive. If I remember, that bomb was remote-triggered and the guy pushed the button because he was afraid to miss his target and he paid no attention to who was around. Again if I'm right, he missed his target!
A friend of mine who was connected with the Hells once had an offer to "clean-up" a guy who hurt his little boy. The guy was speeding in a small back road where kids were known to play and hit the kid on his trike, breaking a leg and giving him a serious commotion. My friend was tempted to take the offer but refrained.
This isn't to minimize the impact of Hells and other bikers on innocent peoples but, I'd say, if we take the amount of violent incident where innocents were involved and we spread it over the "activity period" of the "organization", street gangs, who are quite recent compared to bikers, have a lot more innocent "hits" per year and usually, with street gangs, these innocent "hits" were the target, where with Hells, they are usually collateral damages. This isn't to minimize the impact of these collateral damages either! These peoples are as dead as the ones killed by street gangs and they didn't deserve it either. But, on a question of "gratuitous violence", street gangs win hands-down on the bikers so, between two evils, the Hells appear to be the least destructive.
I knew a few Hells in my young years, some who were "active" in the "club policy enforcment" and one thing I can say is, even for them, a child is sacred. I wouldn't be surprised if the guy responsible of little Daniel's death is no longer alive. If I remember, that bomb was remote-triggered and the guy pushed the button because he was afraid to miss his target and he paid no attention to who was around. Again if I'm right, he missed his target!
A friend of mine who was connected with the Hells once had an offer to "clean-up" a guy who hurt his little boy. The guy was speeding in a small back road where kids were known to play and hit the kid on his trike, breaking a leg and giving him a serious commotion. My friend was tempted to take the offer but refrained.
This isn't to minimize the impact of Hells and other bikers on innocent peoples but, I'd say, if we take the amount of violent incident where innocents were involved and we spread it over the "activity period" of the "organization", street gangs, who are quite recent compared to bikers, have a lot more innocent "hits" per year and usually, with street gangs, these innocent "hits" were the target, where with Hells, they are usually collateral damages. This isn't to minimize the impact of these collateral damages either! These peoples are as dead as the ones killed by street gangs and they didn't deserve it either. But, on a question of "gratuitous violence", street gangs win hands-down on the bikers so, between two evils, the Hells appear to be the least destructive.
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I agree Doc my fellow Buffalo Bills supporter that what happened to the lil
boy was unfortunate but its one of those wrong place at the wrong time
kind of things.
I went to higih school with a guy that was caught by the Hells on their turf
selling drugs, they were nice enough to give him a warning.
Too bad he didnt listen.........
boy was unfortunate but its one of those wrong place at the wrong time
kind of things.
I went to higih school with a guy that was caught by the Hells on their turf
selling drugs, they were nice enough to give him a warning.
Too bad he didnt listen.........
daddyxxx said:
Don't be silly. You do know how an H Angel gets his wings, right? Or are you going to call Hunter Thompson's book hysterical?
I have met many of Hell's Angels over the years. Your reference to how they get their wings is bunk. They do not have to murder an innocent person to earn full patch.
One of many myths.
Remember their main business is drugs. The rest is sidelines. That does not go to say that their not are many psycho-violent people who are members.
Personally, I have met many people whose lives were completely destroyed by their drug and/or alcohol addiction. I also know many people who can use occasionally with out abusing and without getting themselves into trouble.
IMHO, the best way to get a handle on the problem of gangs and drugs is legalization. It is easier for youth to buy drugs than alcohol. Regulate the way alcohol is regulated. Making it illegal is never going to make it go away. But regulation will at least get rid of the gang problem.
Ronnie,
Naughtylady
One of many myths.
Remember their main business is drugs. The rest is sidelines. That does not go to say that their not are many psycho-violent people who are members.
Personally, I have met many people whose lives were completely destroyed by their drug and/or alcohol addiction. I also know many people who can use occasionally with out abusing and without getting themselves into trouble.
IMHO, the best way to get a handle on the problem of gangs and drugs is legalization. It is easier for youth to buy drugs than alcohol. Regulate the way alcohol is regulated. Making it illegal is never going to make it go away. But regulation will at least get rid of the gang problem.
Ronnie,
Naughtylady
Killing MIGHT help a prospect to become full patch but not always.YouVantOption said:
Killings done by the bikers are largely done in the "course of business" against rivals or to settle disputes. If there's a prospect who's eager to prove himself to the club and, if that prospect is "expendable", he might be offered the job but usually, these jobs are done by "pros" who are well placed and considered trustworthy within the organization. It's rarely, if ever a random and those who are going at random without "proper authorization" either never get their patch or get severely "reprimanded". Some mistake happen and usually, those committing mistakes learn the hard way not to commit any in the future, if future they have...
Again, the goal is to avoid attracting outside attention: cops won't loose sleep on bikers killing each others but when it goes outside, peoples pay attention.
naughtylady said:
Hello Naughtylady,
So how do you explain the theft and black market selling of every legal item from cigarettes to automobiles by gangs and others??? The fact is the HA and other gangs don't care if it's legal or illegal. They just want to profit from it's selling.
truly,
Merlot
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I have ydaddyxxx said:
To agree putting these guys behind bar is just gonna give the chance for bigger criminals to come here and then the street gang r gonna think it's an open play ground and do whatever they want
I also fear in a way that street gangs will take over more activities the Hell's will not be able to carry out or "protect" in the next few years.
One thing amuses me: if many who were arrested in 2001 have been ... again arrested now... does it not show the futility of a lot of what was done in 2001? Is it not a never ending phenomenon?
I agree legalization of drugs will contribute to decreasing many gang related problems around it...
One thing amuses me: if many who were arrested in 2001 have been ... again arrested now... does it not show the futility of a lot of what was done in 2001? Is it not a never ending phenomenon?
I agree legalization of drugs will contribute to decreasing many gang related problems around it...
regulate legalise
hey merlot what's up?
obviously there will always be crime for profit
very few fortunes are made from contraband[stolen or fake goods]
the power that drives these orginizations is the overpriced steped on
cocaine and heroin they sell ,process,traffic,transport and so on
if a gram a pure bolivian cocaine was available at your pharmacie for only 15$
this would kill the infrustrucure of these organizations
i beleive i read a crime report stating that this would decrease violent and
street crime by over 60%
now le just took out all the old guys who have common sense and experiance
now a bunch of hot headed kids are gonna be handling things
how do you think that will affect violent street crime over this summer?
hey merlot what's up?
obviously there will always be crime for profit
very few fortunes are made from contraband[stolen or fake goods]
the power that drives these orginizations is the overpriced steped on
cocaine and heroin they sell ,process,traffic,transport and so on
if a gram a pure bolivian cocaine was available at your pharmacie for only 15$
this would kill the infrustrucure of these organizations
i beleive i read a crime report stating that this would decrease violent and
street crime by over 60%
now le just took out all the old guys who have common sense and experiance
now a bunch of hot headed kids are gonna be handling things
how do you think that will affect violent street crime over this summer?
Merlot said:
I know plenty of people selling black market smokes who are not even remotely related to any gang activity.
Same goes for cars. I sold cars at a new car dealership for 10 years. Big money in export. OR stealing serial numbers off of purchased wrecks (supposedly purchased for parts and/or scrap metal) and putting them on a stolen vehicles. OR... well you get the idea. I never met a gang member in this end of the business... that does not mean that gangs do not have their fingers in this pie also, but drugs IS their main thing. Cut off the drug money and you just cut off their main income, the rest is sidelines.
I still firmly believe that legalizing and regulating what are now known as street drugs will go a long way to solving many problems in this area. Look at how lifting the prohibition on alcohol eased the gang problems of the time (Al Capone et. al.)
Ronnie,
Naughtylady
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Techman said:
Hello all,
I totally agree here.
naughtylady said:
I can't say I know everything about the HA or gangs. One thing is clear though. They do not want to live by the norm. "Renegades" or "rebels" may not be the best words for it, but from everything I have seen about the HA and gangs, they simply have no intention of living under the established laws and regulations of society. They seek to be free of most of what we normally call civilized codes and regulations for behavior, business, or most anything they want to do. They may follow as much of our behavior codes and laws as they have to to avoid unnecessary attention or trouble. But they want to be their own authority and reject established authority as much as they can. They will do business on their terms whether the items they seek to profit from are illegal or not. It's a matter of lifestyle not just exorbitant profits from illegal drugs. So you can legalize everything and they will still form their own micro-societies and live as much outside the law as they wish.
Cheers,
Merlot
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naughtylady said:
Any you know that how, precisely? Do you really think that they would admit such a thing to you? Do you think all of this hitman stuff was made up, that trying to kill prison guards was false?
Please.
metoo4 said:
The hitman's name was Scott Stienert who's body was found floating in the St.Lawrence in 1999.
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