MAN TAPED SECRET TALKS WITH HELLS ANGELS

VANCOUVER - A man who infiltrated the East End chapter of the Hells
Angels secretly recorded several gang members discussing listening
devices and police plots targeting the Angels.

Michael Plante testified Thursday that he was stressed by the
conversation because it took place inside the Hells Angels clubhouse
in east Vancouver and he was wearing a listening device that was being
monitored by police.

"We were talking about devices, rats [informers] and infiltrating the
Hells Angels," he recalled of the conversation with Francisco (Chico)
Pires, George Pires and Randy Potts, which was played in court.

At the time, in 2004, Plante was working for the RCMP as a police
agent after signing an agreement that would pay him up to $1 million
in reward money.

Plante recalled other things that stressed him out while working as a
police agent.

One night he went out for dinner with several Hells Angels, including
Chico Pires, Rob Alvarez and Damiano Dipopolo. They later went to the
Cecil Hotel strip bar for drinks and then to the Au Bar nightclub, he
said. Plante picked up the tab of about $2,000 for the evening.

He said the RCMP would reimburse him for expenses if he got receipts,
which wasn't always easy because he often paid cash.

"It looked very, very strange asking for a receipt," Plante told B.C.
Supreme Court Justice Victor Curtis. "Most of these guys knew I didn't
have a bank account. If I didn't get a receipt, I was using my own
money."

He said he was trying to impress gang members because wanted to
ingratiate himself with Hells Angels after applying to become a member
of the motorcycle club.

The evidence at the drug trial is being heard in a voir dire -- a
trial within a trial -- after defence lawyers Don Morrison and Greg
DelBigio applied for a stay of proceedings against their respective
clients, Nima Ghavami and Hells Angels member Ronaldo Lising, who are
accused of trafficking methamphetamine, known as crystal meth.

The defence's abuse-of-process application alleges Plante committed
crimes not authorized by police during his nine months of working as a
police agent, which ended in January 2005.

The investigation culminated with raids on Hells Angels clubhouses in
east Vancouver and Kelowna. A total of 18 men were arrested in July
2005, including six Hells Angels members.