Pubdate: Fri, 07 Jun 2002 Source: Kingston Whig-Standard (CN ON) Copyright: 2002 The Kingston Whig-Standard Contact: http://www.kingstonwhigstandard.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/224 Authors: Gary Dimmock and Jennifer Pritchett Note: Gary Dimmock is a reporter with the Ottawa Citizen. Jennifer Pritchett is a Whig-Standard Staff Writer. With files from the Canadian Press. Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?188 (Outlaw Bikers) BANDIDOS WERE EXPANDING WHEN POLICE CRACKED DOWN Local News - Two weeks before the Kingston-based president of the Bandidos Canada biker gang was arrested on Wednesday, he met with international brothers in the Sangre de Cristo mountains of New Mexico and spoke of ambitious plans to expand across Canada and to one day operate a legitimate club. Alain Brunette, 38, said the future would be different with every member required to hold down an honest job. He longed for peace with his rivals, the Hells Angels, and a time when he could take care of business without looking over his shoulder. He has survived not one, but two attempts on his life and wears a bullet-proof vest. Next month, he had planned to take his message for a new "peaceful" future to European leaders of the Bandidos, the world's second-most powerful biker gang. He echoed the same sentiments last December when he talked with The Whig-Standard inside the Travelodge Hotel-LaSalle Kingston on Princess Street where the bikers gathered to become members of what they call the Bandidos Nation. Brunette said people shouldn't be suspicious about bikers congregating in Kingston. "First we're human beings, then we're bikers," he said, identifying himself only as Alain. "It's a brotherhood. That's all S" He said people had no reason to be afraid of bikers and that it was police and the media that gave them a bad rap. "This is a party to celebrate that we're Bandidos now," he said. "We're proud of it and it's really nice to be a member of the Bandidos Nation. We're having a Christmas party." But according to police, Brunette's dreams of expansion may be over. On Wednesday at 6 a.m. police kicked in the door of his Canatara Court apartment in Kingston and arrested him without incident on an outstanding warrant from Quebec. He was transported to Montreal to face charges there. Police said they also seized a weapon during the raid. It's unknown what charges he faces or the type of weapon that was seized. The early-morning raid was one of a series of sweeps across Ontario and Quebec that targeted about 60 members and associates of the gang. A total of 27 people were arrested and one Quebec biker was shot in the chest and face by police officers. Arrest warrants were issued for all 25 full-patch members of the group in Quebec, and 36 other individuals tied to the gang. The suspects were charged with gangsterism, drug trafficking and conspiracy to commit murder. Police claim Wednesday's raids completely dismantled the Quebec operations of the Bandidos. Police and a number of local law-enforcement agencies participated in Wednesday's raids, aimed at ending a bloody turf war with the Hells that has claimed 170 lives in eight years. Several bystanders, including an 11-year-old boy, have been killed in the crossfire. Montreal Police Cmdr. Andre Durocher said about 30 searches were carried out as police looked for computers, weapons and drugs. But according to Quebec Police yesterday, several members of the Bandidos biker gang, including a key group leader, escaped Wednesday's massive police raid that crippled the organization. Among the six Bandidos at large is Montreal chapter executive Normand Whissell, who has been on the run since he survived an attempt on his life Jan. 11 near Montreal. "Mr. Whissell has been missing for quite a while," said Montreal police Insp. Serge Frenette. "He has been running away, mostly from the Hells Angels. But now we're also looking for him." Police said they don't know where Whissell is. He has been pursued by unknown assassins who killed an innocent man this spring who they apparently mistook for the biker leader. Yves Albert, a 34 year-old father of two, was gunned down March 14 at a gas station in suburban St-Eustache. Albert's car was the same colour and make as Whissell's, and bore a licence plate number similar to that of the biker, who lived nearby. Bandidos members are also suspected in a rash of fires that damaged or destroyed several bars and adjoining apartment units in Montreal's southwest district last year. Police say the gang was attempting to intimidate bar owners in an effort to muscle into drug territory vacated by the gutted Hells gang. - --- MAP posted-by: Terry Liittschwager