https://www.lapresse.ca/actualites/...t-reinvestir-les-provinces-maritimes.phpThe Hells Angels want to reinvest the Maritime Provinces
The Hells Angels have been busy reinvesting Atlantic Canada for two years, but they seem to have a hard time recruiting "members in good standing," experts say.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) and organized crime experts do not understand why the most powerful group of criminal bikers in the country have not yet found candidates worthy of membership in good standing. But they confirm that the Hells are reorganizing well, after the painful dismantling by the police of their chapter of Halifax in 2001.
Stephen Schneider, a professor of criminology at Saint Mary's University in Halifax, says the creation of a new school club this past year - the Red Devils - shows the Hells still want to redeploy to the provinces Atlantic.
"The Red Devils are, so to speak, their AAA affiliated club at the international level," says Professor Schneider, who has written extensively on organized crime. "So it's a sign that the Hells Angels have not let go and really want to be in Atlantic Canada. "
The Red Devils have chapters in Moncton, New Brunswick, and Halifax, Nova Scotia. Members of the Halifax Chapter, created in July, were recruited from two other biker clubs, the Gatekeepers and the Darksiders, according to RCMP Staff Sergeant Guylaine Cottreau of the Criminal Intelligence Service in Nova Scotia. -Scotland.
"They were known Hells Angels and friends came from existing clubs," explains me Cottreau. "But we do not report new" prospects "[...] even though the Hells still have a good footprint in the province with their friendly clubs. "
According to agent Cottreau, the Hells had a chapter of "prospects" in Nova Scotia, but it had fewer than six members in the fall, and these bikers have since become "prospects" of the Hells in New Brunswick neighbor, where their Nomads club already had some members in good standing transplanted to that province. The Nomads were once headed in Quebec by Maurice Boucher, who is serving a life sentence for the murder of two prison guards.
Very attractive ribs
In addition to the Red Devils, there are other "small" criminal gangs in Nova Scotia, including Darksider clubs in Dartmouth and the Annapolis Valley, Sedition clubs in Fall River and Weymouth, and Highlanders clubs in Antigonish. in Pictou County and Cape Breton.
Experts believe that the Hells are seeking to expand their territory and take control of drug trafficking in an area of ​​several thousand kilometers of coastline, an undeniable attraction for traffickers.
The Bacchus Motorcycle Club would be the only other rival organization of biker criminals in Nova Scotia, and it seems to have entered into a truce in the area with the Hells. A Nova Scotia Supreme Court Judge declared the organization "criminal" in a July decision - a decision that may hinder his activities, as this label comes with stiffer penalties for crimes committed for the benefit of gang.
Meanwhile, the Hells Angels' traditional rivals Outlaws also made forays into the region with friendly clubs like the Black Pistons in Fredericton and Sydney, where they settled earlier this year. The Outlaws and Bacchus are also present in Newfoundland, as well as several clubs friends of the Hells Angels. In Prince Edward Island, there are two Bacchus chapters and one chapter of a Hells Angels affiliated club.
"For now, it's quiet, but the Outlaws are the main group rival Hells Angels: there is therefore a potential (of violence)," said M me Cottreau.
Outlaws "cheeky"
Professor Schneider finds it surprising that the Outlaws are trying to settle in Atlantic Canada after failing to become a significant threat to the Hells in Ontario. "They are cheeky, you have to give them that," says Schneider. "They continue to fight and try to establish their territory. "
Although the port of Halifax is expected to be attractive to the Hells Angels, police say it has not reported any suspicious activity on this side. Professor Schneider, who has just completed a study for the federal government on organized crime in seaports, also found no direct evidence of a Hells presence on the Halifax wharf. "But that does not mean that they are not there, or that there are no partners. "
The criminologist believes the Hells' influence has taken its toll on major police operations, such as the arrest in July of prominent New Brunswicker Emery Martin. But it would be especially the success of the repression of previous years against the group of bikers in Quebec which would have had the most impact, according to him.
In April 2009, Operation SharQc led to the arrest of 156 people and the closure of several criminal gang clubs. Numerous lawsuits have fallen flat, however, and the Hells have managed to recover in Quebec, which may have implications for the Atlantic region, Schneider believes.
"They are better positioned to create chapters and club-schools in Atlantic Canada," he says. The presence of the Red Devils in Moncton is important because it is a leading club-club, long associated with the Montreal Chapter of the Hells Angels. "
Constable Cottreau says the police are aware of this growing threat - she has observed in the region this summer the presence of Hells Angels from Quebec. "We try to shake them up and dismantle them, but the task is arduous: it's a fairly well-established organization. "
