POLICE STRIKE AT HELLS ANGELS

Dozens Arrested In Ontario, Quebec

Police in Ontario and Quebec carried out dozens of arrests yesterday
following a lengthy investigation of the Hells Angels chapter based
in Thunder Bay.

According to police sources, five members of the Thunder Bay chapter
were among those arrested in what the Ontario Provincial Police
dubbed Project Husky.

Many of those arrested yesterday are expected to face charges of
trafficking in cocaine, weapons offences, conspiracy and committing
crimes for the benefit of a criminal organization.

More than 30 other people suspected of having ties to the outlaw
motorcycle gang also were arrested yesterday in Ontario and in Quebec.

According to a police source, the Surete du Quebec arrested at least
one person in this province in connection with the two-year
investigation. A spokesperson for the SQ could only confirm that they
were involved in yesterday's operation.

The Toronto police also participated in the operation, as did the
RCMP and the Thunder Bay Police Service.

The chapter in Thunder Bay was chartered in January 2001. It was
created with the help of the Hells Angels Nomads chapter in Montreal.
In December 2000, influential members of the Nomads chapter travelled
through Ontario convincing more than 160 members of small biker gangs
like the Satan's Choice to join them.

In a ceremony held during a Hells Angels party in Sorel on Dec. 29,
2000, the biker gang officially "patched over" the smaller gangs,
giving them chapters in several Ontario cities. The Satan's Choice
members in Thunder Bay became Hells Angels a week after the party
because they didn't attend the gathering.

In September, a member of the Thunder Bay chapter was sentenced to a
seven-year term for his role in a drug trafficking network that ran
from northern Ontario to British Columbia. Other members of the
chapter are also currently behind bars. The five arrested yesterday
would represent most of what is left of the chapter, a police source
told The Gazette.

Details of the police operation are expected to be released during a
news conference in Thunder Bay this morning.