POLICE AGENT ACTED ILLEGALLY, COURT TOLD

Crimes Breached Agent's Bail Conditions, One of His Handlers Testifies

A former police agent who infiltrated the Hells Angels in Vancouver
was committing crimes that were in breach of his bail conditions
while he was working for police, one the agent's handlers testified Wednesday.

Cpl. Doug Collins, who at the time was with the RCMP's outlaw
motorcycle gang unit, recalled that he thought his boss, then Insp.
Bob Paulson, had given an exemption for [Name redacted] to commit
crimes while working for police.

"My understanding was that an exemption was given by him [Paulson],"
Collins testified.

Paulson is expected to testify next week about his role overseeing
the investigation that led to the arrest of 18 men, including six
Hells Angels, and culminated in raids on Hells Angels clubhouses in
Vancouver and Kelowna in July 2005.

Collins was testifying at the Vancouver trial of Hells Angels member
[Name redacted] , who is accused of possessing methamphetamine for
the purpose of trafficking.

The court was told earlier that [Name redacted] was working as a
bouncer at the Cecil Hotel strip club in Vancouver while he was a
Hells Angels "enforcer" -- hired muscle to intimidate people and
collect debts -- when he was charged with extortion in July 2003.

[Name redacted] testified the extortion charge stemmed from him doing
enforcer work for a Hells Angels member. Shortly after his arrest,
police met with [Name redacted] and he agreed to work with police and
try to infiltrate the Hells Angels.

[Name redacted] , 36, didn't become a police agent until 2004, when
he signed a $1-million agreement with the RCMP. He now is in the
witness protection program.

[Name redacted] trial is in a voir dire -- a trial within a trial --
after the defence made an abuse of process application, alleging
[Name redacted] was allowed to commit crimes without police
authorization, including drug dealing, assaults and possessing
unregistered handguns and silencers, which were all in breach of his
bail on the extortion charge.

Under cross-examination Wednesday by [Name redacted] lawyer, Greg
DelBigio, Collins agreed that [Name redacted] bail conditions
specified that he would not possess weapons or commit any crime.

The witness recalled [Name redacted] told police he was keeping two
handguns and silencers for a Hells Angels member and police became
"very concerned" when the biker took back one of the guns. Police
then deactivated the remaining gun in [Name redacted] possession, Collins said.

He said police had to be careful not to alert the Hells Angels
targets of the investigation, in order to ensure [Name redacted] safety.

DelBigio, reading from Collins' notes while he was [Name redacted]
handler, pointed out that [Name redacted] was transporting large
amounts of drug cash and kilograms of crystal meth and cocaine for a
Hells Angels member even before [Name redacted] became an agent for
police on April 15, 2004.

Collins agreed that even when [Name redacted] was still an informer
he was taking direction from police about trafficking drugs. A police
agent is allowed to traffic illegal drugs if given an exemption by
police, he said, but [Name redacted] was told he could not engage in
violence while working for police.

The abuse of process application was originally scheduled for three
weeks but now is scheduled to continue until December. If the
application is successful, charges could be dismissed by B.C. Supreme
Court Justice Victor Curtis. If unsuccessful, the four-week trial of
[Name redacted] and co-accused [Name redacted] will start next March.

Two other trials of Hells Angels members stemming from the same
investigation also will begin next year.