HELLS ANGELS TO HIT LINKS

The Hells Angels will be hitting the links in Amherstburg while their
archrivals --the Outlaws -- hold a major gathering across the river in
Detroit.

Retired Quebec Provincial Police biker unit head Guy Ouellette said
many of the Hells Angels from that province love to golf and this year
is the 15th anniversary of the motorcycle gang's founding of its
Trois-Rivieres chapter.

There are also strong links between the Windsor and Sherbrooke, Que.,
chapters, said Ouellette, who arrived in Windsor Wednesday afternoon.

He said the tournament will be held Friday.

"It will be interesting to see how many well-known people will attend
the golf tournament," said Ouellette, adding former Montreal Canadiens
goaltender Jose Theodore was criticized after pictures of him
attending a Hells Angels golf tournament surfaced in 2003.

Ouellette joked Theodore might show up in Windsor with socialite
heiress Paris Hilton, who he was seen being cosy with at Sunday's
MuchMusic Video Awards in Toronto.

Ouellette said the Hells Angels prefer higher-end golf courses.
Several courses contacted said they had no tournaments booked but a
source at Fox Glen, which is on Howard Avenue in Amherstburg not far
from the Hells Angels clubhouse, said they had a private tournament
booked with a 9 a.m. "shotgun" start.

Ouellette said Highway 401 will "see a very long procession" of
Harley-Davidson motorcycles today and Friday.

While the Hells Angels are in Windsor, their archrivals the Outlaws
will be meeting at an undisclosed location in Detroit, where there are
two chapters.

"Certainly we're aware of it. However, we don't anticipate any
crossing over of Hells Angels into the U.S. or Outlaws into Canada,"
said OPP Det. Insp. Don Bell, the head of the provincial Biker
Enforcement Unit (BEU), which is made up of more than 100 officers
seconded from forces across the province.

"In planning for this event we have partnered with the CBSA (Canada
Border Services Agency) and they will be strictly monitoring who is
coming into Canada."

Bell also confirmed knowledge of the golf tournament but declined to
name the location.

Booked Cruise

The Outlaws are believed to have booked a boat cruise on the Detroit
River sometime during the weekend.

The two rival clubs have a bloody history, but in Canada in recent
years the Hells Angels have risen to a position of dominance while the
Outlaws are a shadow of their former selves.

Journalist and author Julian Sher, who wrote The Road to Hell: How the Biker
Gangs are Conquering Canada along with William Marsden, said the possibility
of violence between the two groups shouldn't be discounted.

He said that later this year several members of both clubs will go to
trial for a wild gun and knife fight that broke out in a Las Vegas
casino in 2002 that left three dead.

Given the recent history of the Hells Angels in Canada with several
raids and successful convictions -- including one in Windsor -- Sher
said they will likely stay out of trouble.

"The Hells Angels will try to be on their best behaviour," said
Sher.

"There is a subtext to their event, which is intimidation. When you
see 500 Harleys rolling by it's quite intimidating.

"It's been a bad year for the Hells Angels across the country. For the
first time in Canada the Hells Angels are on the defensive.

"I think the Hells Angels will use this run to boost
morale."

Former Lakeshore resident and Sherbrooke native Jose Poulin, a
full-patch member of the Hells Angels, is serving a two-year term for
conspiracy to traffic in cocaine after pleading guilty to the charge
last November.