Pubdate: Fri, 20 Jan 2006
Source: Vancouver Sun (CN BC)
Copyright: 2006 The Vancouver Sun
Contact:  http://www.canada.com/vancouver/vancouversun/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/477
Author: Colin Perkel, Canadian Press
Note: with files from the Montreal Gazette
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mjcn.htm (Cannabis - Canada)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/coke.htm (Cocaine)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mdma.htm (Ecstasy)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?188 (Outlaw Bikers)

HELLS ANGELS RAID AN ELECTION STUNT: BIKER

Two-Year Operation Nets Charges Against 27 People

TORONTO -- Sweeping dawn raids in which police blew open the door of 
a vacant Hells Angels clubhouse in Thunder Bay, Ont., and arrested 
six alleged members of the motorcycle gang were an election-driven 
publicity stunt, a biker spokesman said Thursday.

Police, however, insisted they had done "significant" damage to a key 
Hells Angels chapter and disrupted the flow of illegal drugs across 
northern Ontario -- a view the group disputed.

"There's a federal election going on -- the main issue seems to be 
crime -- and this is smoke and mirrors so they can say they are being 
tough on crime," said biker spokesman Donny Peterson. "It hasn't 
impacted the Hells Angels."

Police charged 27 people, including five full members and one 
probationary "hang-around" member, with offences including drug 
trafficking and operating as a criminal organization.

Police also said they seized cocaine, marijuana, ecstasy and other 
drugs, as well as firearms, stolen property, a recreational vehicle and cash.

The 15 raids in Ontario, Quebec and Calgary on Wednesday were the 
result of a two-year undercover operation dubbed Project Husky that 
focused on the Thunder Bay area, said Det. Insp. Don Bell, head of 
Ontario's joint forces biker-enforcement unit.

"We've put a significant dent into this operation," Bell told a news 
conference in the northwestern Ontario city. "We feel we may have 
dismantled this chapter."

Bell conceded police have so far had little success in permanently 
shutting down any chapters in Ontario.

Peterson said the arrests would have little impact on the gang, or 
even on the Thunder Bay chapter, one of 16 in Ontario.

At the news conference, police played video of the explosive entry 
into the vacant clubhouse.

Peterson accused police of playing to the media by blowing off the door.

"They've probably raided that clubhouse 30 times, so why do they have 
to use explosives?" Peterson said.

But Bell said officers wanted to get inside safely and to ensure the 
evidence sought would be available.

Montreal journalist Paul Cherry, author of the just-published book 
Biker Trials, called the raids a "start" in stopping the Hells 
Angels' spread in Ontario.

A truck the Hells Angels used to promote their image in Ontario by 
depicting it in their latest calendar was actually a police vehicle 
used by an undercover agent.

He was working for the Ontario Provincial Police while he infiltrated 
the Hells Angels chapter in Thunder Bay during the two-year investigation.
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MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman