Pubdate: Tue, 18 May 2004 Source: Peace River Record-Gazette (CN AB) Copyright: 2004 Peace River Record-Gazette Contact: http://www.prrecordgazette.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1232 Author: Scott Randall Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?188 (Outlaw Bikers) 'THE ROAD TO HELL': HOW THE BIKER GANGS ARE CONQUERING CANADA Peace River Record Gazette -- Julian Sher is a former investigative producer with the CBC's the fifth estate, and William Marsden is the senior investigative reporter for The Gazette in Montreal. Together they have penned an eye-opening account of how the biker gangs have infiltrated our country and cornered the illegal drug-trade with little or no opposition. One glaring example is how the Hell's Angels and their affiliates have basically taken control of our country's ports. Mike Toddington investigated and found the bikers were employed throughout the ports. After a thorough investigation, he was pressed by his boss to drop the cases. Toddington decided to continue to pursue it anyways. "It was the last decision he made as ports security chief. Fifteen days later, the ports corporation fired him." He then urged that the government keep the veteran ports police in an intelligence section so their years worth of valuable knowledge would not be lost. "Instead not only did they fire all the officers, but all their intelligence files also disappeared." This left the ports without their own security force and it left the RCMP to begin from ground zero all of the years of investigations into the biker's infiltration of the ports was forever lost. The bikers had absolutely no fear of importing drugs by the cargo-container full. Throughout The Road To Hell, these two writers explain the rise of the Hell's Angels throughout the country. They also explain how once the bikers have control in an area of the province they are almost impossible to get rid of. Law enforcement officers, prosecutors and judges have all been threatened and terrorized when they have crossed paths with the Hell's Angels, with little or no repercussions. "The Angels have the best of both worlds: a national and international network for cooperation, without the entanglement of a top-down pyramid structure. The Angels chapters are like terrorist cells that could teach Al Qaeda a few lessons about insulation and protection That means each cell has to be penetrated and destroyed-and the only way to do that is with informants." And it is through informants that the different police forces have had any success. Unfortunately, informants are very rare due the mortal consequences of being caught by the bikers. If you cross them, retribution is swift. An example of this is Michel Auger, a writer for Le Journal de Montreal who at one time proudly stated, "Not all my readers are criminals, but all the criminals are my readers." After upsetting Maurice "Mom" Boucher, the head of the Hells Angels, Auger was gunned down while in a parking lot. Miraculously he survived multiple gunshot wounds and went on to write about his experiences in his book The Biker Who Shot Me, an interesting, though much less comprehensive look at the bikers in Canada. The Road To Hell is a compelling, eye-opening and timely read. Today, the Hells Angels have over 37 chapters with close to 600 members in every major region throughout our country. Sher and Marsden have persuasively explained how the recent imprisonment of biker leader Boucher is too little, too late, and how the government of Canada must take decisive action if we are ever to be free of outlaw biker gangs and their influence on the drug-trade in our country. In this frightening look at our country's underworld, "murder plots, drug deals, money laundering and assassinations are brought to life through never-before-revealed police files, wiretaps and surveillance tapes." The timely read, The Road To Hell is available at the Peace River Library. 2003. Average readability. Adult content. 400 pages - --- MAP posted-by: Terry Liittschwager