Pubdate: Tue, 19 Jul 2005
Source: Province, The (CN BC)
Copyright: 2005 The Province
Contact:  http://www.canada.com/vancouver/theprovince/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/476
Author: Jason Botchford
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?188 (Outlaw Bikers)

POLICE TAKE ON HELLS ANGELS AS A CRIMINAL ORGANIZATION

B.C. Charges Follow Two-Year Investigation

B.C. police have long held the Hells Angels are an organized-crime 
gang and now they're going to try to prove it.

The Hells Angels motorcycle club will be put on trial following a 
massive biker-gang bust, stemming from a RCMP-led two-year investigation.

For the first time, the RCMP has laid charges under the criminal 
organization provisions of the

Criminal Code against 18 alleged members B.C.'s notorious motorcycle gang.

"As a result of the evidence collected, we are charging that the East 
End chapter of the Hells Angels is a criminal organization," RCMP 
Const. Cam Kowalski said yesterday. "It's a good day for us."

The Hells Angels have always maintained they are a motorcycle club 
and not a criminal gang.

In an operation dubbed E-Pandora, Mounties arrested 17 bikers on 
trafficking, weapons and extortion charges following an unprecedented 
series of raids on clubhouses in Kelowna and East Vancouver last Friday.

All 17 men who appeared in B.C. Supreme Court yesterday were remanded 
in custody until Monday by Associate Chief Justice Patrick Dohm.

Their next appearance could serve as a bail hearing, although going 
through a mountain of documents by then could prove daunting for their lawyers.

The charges are split into two categories.

A federal prosecutor will handle all the drug charges, while a 
provincial Crown counsel will prosecute other Criminal Code offences, 
such as extortion and assault.

Police said they hope to have the same success that Ontario 
prosecutors had in a landmark case in which Justice Michelle Fuerst 
ruled that the Hells Angels are a criminal organization.

Under a new section of the Criminal Code, committing an indictable 
crime in association with a criminal organization allows the court to 
add 14 years to a prison sentence.

Experts say the arrests, which followed 12 separate search warrants 
Friday, are a huge blow to the Hells Angels because they include 
senior gang members.

Six of the 18 charged are full-patch members of the gang.

Among those arrested:

- - David Giles, 56, a former member of the national executive and 
former Montreal Hells Angel, faces a trafficking charge in concert 
with being a member of a criminal organization.

- - Jonathan Sal Bryce, 24, son of East End chapter president John 
Bryce, is charged with trafficking cocaine, assault and conspiracy to 
commit extortion, all in association of a criminal organization.

- - John Punko, 39, who became a full-patch member of the Hells Angels 
after he was found guilty of threatening a Crown prosecutor, faces 11 charges.

- - Ronaldo Lising, 42, a full-patch member of the Nomads chapter of 
Hells Angels who was convicted in 2001 of conspiracy to traffic 
cocaine and sentenced to 41/2 years in jail, faces three charges.

Police are still trying to find the 18th accused, Kerry Ryan Renaud, 
25, who is considered armed and dangerous.

During the searches, officers discovered quantities of illegal 
weapons, including four grenades and sticks of dynamite.

Police have seized illegal goods worth an estimated $7 million during 
their 23-month operation, including pot, cocaine and crystal methamphetamine.

Police said they hope the arrests will prevent a planned expansion by 
the East End Hells Angels into Kelowna.

- - - -

SEIZED

The RCMP and Vancouver police have completed 22 search warrants since 
January and seized $7 million in goods. Here is what they found:

- - 20 kilograms of cocaine.

- - 20 kilograms of methamphetamine.

- - 70 kilograms of marijuana.

- - Five handguns, as well as fully automatic weapons with silencers.

- - 11 sticks of dynamite with detonation cords and blasting caps.

- - Four grenades and an assortment of ammunition.

- - $200,000 in cash.

- - 250 kilograms of methylamine (a precursor for the production of ecstacy).

- - Two methamphetamine laboratories.
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MAP posted-by: Beth