TO HELL WITH ORGANIZED CRIME

Quebec's Biker-Gang War Is Just One Part Of Ongoing International
Criminal Consolidation

The arrest of seven Hells Angels for the bludgeoning death of a
Montreal- area bar owner last month was only the latest entry in the
sordid diary of biker-gang violence infecting Quebec. The victim, bar
owner Francis Laforest, joins a growing number of Quebeckers harmed or
killed in the past few years by increasingly brazen and violent bikers.

Authorities fear it is only a matter of time before similar drug-money
mayhem spreads across the country.

The FBI believes the Hells Angels alone rake in more than $1 billion a
year distributing illegal narcotics.

With so much money at stake, the motorcycle gangs have become
ruthless.

In Quebec, bikers have killed prison guards, attempted to kill police
officers and a journalist who reports on organized crime, and have
threatened prosecutors and members of Parliament. Violence between the
warring Hells Angels and the Rock Machine branch of the Bandidos
motorcycle gang in Quebec has claimed the lives of more than 150
people in the last seven years.

A public backlash, including a march of several thousand outraged
citizens, has led in recent weeks to a massive police crackdown and
the arrest of dozens of top bikers.

The leader of the Hells Angels in Quebec, the notorious Maurice "Mom"
Boucher, and several of his top lieutenants were among those charged
with offences ranging from first-degree murder to drug
trafficking.

While the arrests will almost certainly put a short-term dent in the
day-to-day operations of the gangs, they may also have the
longer-term benefit of undermining the ability of the gangs to
co-operate with other crime groups. "The arrests demonstrate that law
enforcement can effectively challenge the organizations," says the
RCMP's top gang fighter, Chief Superintendent Ben Soave. "It destroys
their credibility and develops distrust between the different crime
groups."

Planting the seeds of such distrust is a priority for police because
of the growing number of links between the crime organizations. In
fact, multinational gangs have become so sophisticated that their
joint enterprise could be described as "Organized Crime Inc.," Chief
Supt. Soave says. "There is closer co-operation than ever before.

Asian crime groups are providing the technology and computer expertise
for activities like credit card fraud, Eastern European gangs
specialize in money laundering and extortion, Italian-based groups
offer the leadership and outlaw biker gangs are acting as the
distribution and enforcement wing." Despite the arrests in Quebec,
residents of other provinces cannot rest easy. The biker war in Quebec
is part of a global consolidation of gangs with the two main rivals,
the Hells Angels and the Bandidos, seeking to absorb smaller gangs.

In Ontario, for example, the Bandidos recently took over the Kingston
chapter of the Rock Machine, while the Hells Angels have developed
close links with the Toronto Para-Dice Riders and are starting new
chapters in Sudbury and Ottawa.

Organized criminal enterprises are already costing Canadians billions
of dollars a year. Detective Sergeant Richard Connors of the Ontario
Provincial Police says all law-abiding citizens pay for such crime
through a "hidden levy" on everything from insurance to credit cards.
"There are the costs of healthcare for the victims of drug abuse, the
increased insurance premiums to cover crimes like break and enter and
arson, and then there are the various types of fraud," he points out.
"It affects consumers directly."

The Liberals have introduced a controversial new bill, C-24, to allow
police to break certain laws in the course of undercover
investigations, and to increase sentences for certain gang-related
offences.

Civil libertarians are concerned the law goes too far, but Det. Sgt.
Connors calls it "a step in the right direction." He adds that police
forces need more investigators and resources too.

Canadian Alliance MP Darrel Stinson thinks beefed-up enforcement alone
will not be enough to turn things around because Canada's courts have
become too soft. "We are not pulling our weight," the B.C. MP states.
"Our judicial system is not willing to implement the stiff side of
penalties.

The criminals are better equipped than our police forces with
technology and surveillance equipment."

Nevertheless, Mr. Stinson does not believe the situation is hopeless.
"We can turn it around if many people are willing to stand up and not
back away," he declares. "We have to have the intestinal fortitude to
implement sentences to their fullest extent."