EVICTED FROM TORONTO CLUBHOUSE, HELLS ANGELS 'NOT WELCOME
BACK'

TORONTO - Police tactical teams fanned out across Ontario in a series
of carefully co-ordinated raids against the Hells Angels early
yesterday, seizing property and making dozens of arrests in a
crackdown on illegal drug trafficking.

Called Project Develop, the sweep by Ontario's Biker Enforcement Unit
targeted up to 40 alleged criminal biker gang members across the
Greater Toronto Area, but also included arrests as far away as
Langley, B.C., and New Brunswick.

But the suspects may have had a hint of what was coming.

Last month, the proceeds of crime unit of the federal Justice
Department moved to prevent the corporation that owns a Hells Angels
clubhouse in Toronto from selling, renting or substantially altering
it in any way.

A restraint order was put against the bunker in east-end Toronto --
the largest in Canada -- on the grounds authorities could one day seek
to seize it under anti-drug legislation.

Police descended on that clubhouse early yesterday, putting a gaping
hole in the front facade with a giant hook attached to a truck and
entering the building through a white-tiled bathroom.

A toilet could be seen from the sidewalk through the puncture mark
surrounded by plaster, insulation and other debris as police milled
about outside.

About noon, officers ceremoniously removed the gang insignia from the
outside of the ochre-coloured bunker and, with television cameras
rolling, unfurled their own banner announcing the property had been
seized by authorities.

"To the relief of the community, we now are the tenants of that
clubhouse so the Hells Angels are not welcome back," Toronto police
Staff Insp. Joseph Tomei said.

"This should send a very clear message to those who choose a criminal
lifestyle."

The raids capped an 18-month investigation involving 18
law-enforcement bodies, including the Ontario provincial police, RCMP,
Canada Border Services Agency, as well as other Ontario police forces.

Weapons, along with quantities of cocaine and GHB, known as the date
rape drug, were discovered, but police released few details as the
operation unfolded, planning to hold a news conference instead today.

Authorities couldn't say exactly how many suspects had been nabbed by
day's end.

"The processing is well under way," said OPP Const. Pam
Higham.

Police called yesterday's arrests "significant," but were reluctant to
declare they'd put the Hells Angels out of business in southern Ontario.

The Hells Angels reported news of what they termed a "police attack"
on the Toronto chapter's website.

"Ontario police and other forces are smashing their way through the
Hells Angels world today. Approximately 12 locations in Toronto were
targeted. We will continue to report the latest news ... as long as we
can," read a message on the site.

"As police forces across Canada are targeted for corruption, we fully
expect to endure the politics of diversion."