Pubdate: Thu, 18 May 2006
Source: Montreal Gazette (CN QU)
Copyright: 2006 The Gazette, a division of Southam Inc.
Contact:  http://www.canada.com/montreal/montrealgazette/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/274
Author: Paul Cherry
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?188 (Outlaw Bikers)

38 ARRESTED IN DRUG RAID APPEAR FOR BAIL HEARINGS

22 Released, 16 Ordered Into Custody. Biker Gang Expert Warns Roundup 
Has Created 'A Real Void' In Drug World That Groups Will Try To Fill

PAUL CHERRY, The Gazette

The reputed head of a street gang alleged to have controlled drug 
trafficking in Montreal for the Hells Angels made his first court 
appearance yesterday after a massive police roundup.

Dany (Lou) Cadet-Sprinces, 35, was among 16 people ordered held in 
custody for a future bail hearing after appearing before Quebec Court 
Judge Claude Parent. Twenty-two other men and women were released 
after agreeing to bail or bonds that ranged from $2,000 to $20,000.

All of those released also had to agree to a series of conditions, 
including that they not communicate with an informant the police used 
to investigate the network.

A publication ban has been placed on the person's identity.

All 38 were arrested Tuesday in a crackdown on a Hells Angels drug 
trafficking network.

Cadet-Sprinces is alleged by police to be the head of the Syndicate, 
a street gang created by Hells Angels underling Gregory Wooley more 
than five years ago. Wooley has been behind bars since 2000. He is 
serving a sentence for drug trafficking and conspiracy to commit 
murder, crimes he committed for the Hells Angels during the biker war 
of the 1990s.

Wearing a dark blue sweater with white stripes, the goateed 
Cadet-Sprinces appeared at ease in the prisoner's dock. He joked with 
his lawyer before learning his bail hearing won't be scheduled until 
after May 26.

Five other members of the Syndicate will also be held in custody 
until their bail hearings.

A man who was not arrested or charged after Tuesday's police raid was 
Emmanuel Zephir, 33, described by police sources as a "rising star" 
in the Syndicate in a story The Gazette published in March.

Guy Ouellette, a retired Surete du Quebec investigator and an expert 
on biker gangs, said yesterday he wouldn't be surprised to see Zephir 
- - already an influential street gang leader in 2000 when he was 
sentenced to five years and four months in prison for manslaughter - 
take over what is left of the Syndicate. Police estimates put the 
gang's membership at about a dozen, including those arrested Tuesday. 
Zephir was released from prison in January.

Ouellette cautioned that Tuesday's arrests have "created a real void" 
in the city's drug-trafficking turf and recommended police be 
vigilant in monitoring the organized crime groups that might try to step in.

At a news conference Tuesday, Commander Didier Deramond, the head of 
Montreal's Regional Integrated Squad, said the Syndicate controlled 
drug trafficking in the downtown core and parts of western Montreal 
for the Hells Angels. The squad is a joint police unit that targets 
outlaw motorcycle gangs.

Andre (Frise) Sauvageau, 46, the only member of the Hells Angels to 
appear in court yesterday, is charged with conspiring to traffic 
drugs with Cadet-Sprinces and the other Syndicate members between 
January 2002 and May of this year.

Stephane Trudel, 40, another Hells Angel charged with being part of 
the conspiracy, was expected to turn himself in yesterday but did not 
appear in court.

A spokesperson for the Surete du Quebec said they are still looking 
for the gang member.
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