Pubdate: Wed, 14 Jan 2004 Source: Ottawa Citizen (CN ON) Copyright: 2004 The Ottawa Citizen Contact: http://www.canada.com/ottawa/ottawacitizen/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/326 Author: Gary Dimmock Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?188 (Outlaw Bikers) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mjcn.htm (Cannabis - Canada) RESERVE 'A SAFE PLACE' FOR ORGANIZED CRIME A multimillion-dollar drug network, unfettered by authority and controlled by Hells Angels, is behind the current civil unrest at Kanesatake, the stage for the 1990 Oka standoff. The lucrative marijuana grow operations on the Quebec Mohawk Territory are controlled by Rockers North Chapter, a Montreal Hells Angels puppet club. Until this week, the drug network ran quietly and with impunity, raking in millions for Hells Angels. Tensions erupted on the reserve, about 50 kilometres west of Montreal, after the band's police chief was deposed in an unprecedented move by leaders to finally get tough on crime. Described as ruffians, supporters of the ousted soft-on-crime police chief took to the streets Monday, burning Grand Chief James Gabriel's house to the ground, torching his car and blocking a highway in protest. Late last night, a deal was reached to resolve the crisis, including the appointment of an interim police chief. "It's been a safe place for organized crime," said Guy Ouellette, a leading outlaw biker expert and former Quebec provincial police investigator. "Organized crime is taking advantage of the fact that nobody is (cracking down). There's no police surveillance. It's just Peacekeepers. There's no involvement of the Peacekeepers in the fight against drug dealers," said Mr. Ouellette, who testifies as an expert witness at Hells Angels trials across the country. "It's a community that has autonomy and its own police. And the normal police, like Surete du Quebec and RCMP, cannot interfere or intervene in that territory. That helps out the bikers a lot because for them, not having to worry about a normal police agency, it's helping them," Mr. Ouellette said. "It's a free land. It's protected against police agencies and organized crime benefits from it. The community is now saying enough is enough," he said. In the past, even members of the 12-member Peacekeepers have complained about their chief's reputed tolerance. Grand Chief Gabriel reinstated Terry Isaac, a former police chief, and has vowed to rid his tiny nation of organized crime. "It's a political issue. They want to have their own police. They don't want SQ or RCMP. There's a faction against any kind of police control over the drug market. It's the reason for the crisis because they are so divided," the biker expert said. It is understood that the Montreal Hells Angels and their affiliated gang, Rockers North Chapter, are monitoring the unrest closely. "They will stay real quiet and keep a low profile. They will wait for them to solve their internal problems, then they will restart like nothing happened," Mr. Ouellette said. In June 2000, a year-long RCMP probe concluded a trafficking network had smuggled an estimated 900 kilograms of marijuana from Quebec to New York via Kanesatake and Akwasasne territory. A Mohawk radio report once estimated there was $300-million worth of marijuana growing across the territory every year. The Hells Angels, the world's most feared criminal corporation, first infiltrated Indian reserves so long ago that they are now openly recruiting children on reserves across the country. After highlighting such a case in Manitoba, Senator Thelma Chalifoux, chair of a 2001 standing committee on aboriginal peoples, said: "We have serious issues in Kanesatake that are affecting the children, the young and the elders. I find that being a gang member can give a child an identity. "When you go into the communities and then all of a sudden you are in a larger centre where to be an Indian is bad and to have a different coloured skin is bad." While the small Peacekeepers police force hasn't aggressively pursued organized crime, it is not for lack of training. "They are very well trained ... as a cop you're supposed to be there to protect people. It's a job of arresting those who break the law. But you can close your eyes and pass the time, or you can do something," Mr. Ouellette said "For the community, Chief Gabriel has said enough is enough...." - --- MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin