Pubdate: Wed, 04 Apr 2007
Source: Toronto Star (CN ON)
Copyright: 2007 The Toronto Star
Contact:  http://www.thestar.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/456
Author: Linda Nguyen, Staff Reporter
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?188 (Outlaw Bikers)

THIRTY ARRESTED AS POLICE RAID BIKER GANGS				

Multiple police raids early this morning led to the arrests of at 
least 30 people associated with two biker gangs in the GTA.

Dubbed Project Develop, the 18-month investigation by the provincial 
Biker Enforcement Unit -- a joint task force made up of 18 police law 
enforcement agencies including Toronto police, OPP and the RCMP -- 
used search warrants to enter locations across the province including 
at least 12 in the GTA, OPP Const. Pam Higham said.

Tactical teams armed with warrants for members of the country's 
largest biker gang, the Hells Angels, and the lesser known Bacchus 
Motorcycle Club, began simultaneous raids at 6 a.m., she said.

It's confirmed that the arrest warrants were for gun and drug-related offences.

One of the locations targeted was the Hells Angels clubhouse on 
Eastern Ave. at Logan where teams used a hook on the back of a truck 
to pull out one of the walls.

Police would not confirm if they have, in fact, seized the infamous 
clubhouse but by 11:30 a.m. they were seen ceremoniously taking down 
the organization's sign and pulling skulls and other paraphernalia 
off the outside of the building.

"We're still waiting for the teams to come back before we can compile 
the list of all the people arrested, all the charges and all the 
property seized," Higham said.

Raids connected to this project were also executed in British 
Columbia and New Brunswick.

"Certainly, there will be several people taken into custody," OPP 
Sgt. Bob Patterson said early this morning. "We've got a couple hours 
of work ahead of us."

The investigation is ongoing and police are still withholding 
information until a press conference this afternoon.

But shortly after the raids began, photos of the raided Eastern Ave. 
clubhouse were posted online on affiliated Hells Angels websites, 
along with comments condemning police and media for "attacking" their group.

The last major Hells Angels sweep on Sept. 28, 2006, involved 500 
police who swooped down and arrested dozens of bikers following an 
investigation that uncovered a murder plot and provided law 
enforcement with ammunition to go after their major assets, including 
motorcycles.

Twenty-one tactical teams backed up investigators in the pre-dawn 
raids at the Hells Angels chapter in Oshawa during which members of 
the Hells Angels and the Vagabonds were taken into custody.

At least a dozen of those charged are full-fledged patched members of 
the clubs while the rest were "associates," possibly members of 
puppet clubs controlled by the Hells Angels.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman