RCMP VISIT HELLS ANGELS CLUBHOUSE

Police Don't Want Property to Be Sold

Police yesterday attended the Vancouver clubhouse of the east-end
chapter of the Hells Angels as part of an ongoing criminal
investigation.

It is believed an RCMP officer handed papers to someone inside the
clubhouse, on the south-west corner of the intersection of Georgia and
Kootenay streets.

According to Global News, the paperwork is to ensure the property is
not sold in the leadup to the criminal prosecution of several Hells
Angels members expected this year.

Last summer, an army of police raided the same East Vancouver
clubhouse, demolishing the front doors of the property, which has
served as clubhouse for the past 19 years.

At the same time, police in Kelowna raided that city's Hells Angels
clubhouse.

Eighteen alleged members of the motorcycle club were charged with a
series of offences, ranging from assault and extortion, to cocaine
trafficking and production of crystal meth.

The Vancouver clubhouse is worth almost half a million dollars
according to B.C. Assessment Authority figures.

Police claim the the Hells Angels are a criminal organization, while
the group maintain they are simply a motorcycle club.

Two members of the east-end chapter were convicted in 2001 of cocaine
trafficking in what police said was the first successful prosecution
of Hells Angels members in B.C. on serious charges. Police allege
members of the biker gang are also involved in marijuana grow operations.

Yesterday's action is part of Operation E-Pandora, a joint
investigation involving the RCMP and Vancouver police, including the
multi-force combined forces special enforcement unit, which
investigates organized crime.