SON OF EAST END CLUB PRESIDENT AMONG THREE HELLS ANGELS CHARGED

Drug, Extortion Counts Levelled Against Bikers In Wake Of Last Week's Raids

Vancouver police have issued warrants for three Hells Angels' members on
charges of trafficking and extortion following a surprise raid Friday at
the Vancouver East End chapter clubhouse and a clubhouse in Kelowna.

Jonathan Sal Bryce, son of the East End chapter president, is wanted on
charges of trafficking cocaine and conspiracy to commit extortion. Kerry
Ryan Renaud is wanted on charges of trafficking and producing crystal meth.
Jean Joseph Violette is wanted on a charge of extortion.

Vancouver RCMP Insp. Bob Paulson said that as many as 18 charges could be
announced at a news conference today. Those charged might include members
from other Hells Angels chapters.

"We're hoping to charge them with a number of offences -- drugs, violence,
weapons, explosives and criminal organization," Paulson said.

Officers from the RCMP, Vancouver police and the combined forces special
investigation unit kicked in the doors of the Vancouver East End clubhouse
at 3598 East Georgia St. Friday afternoon and searched the premises over an
18-hour period.

Paulson would not comment on what was seized during the search but said the
raid was not directly related to the Hells Angels' expansion into the Okanagan.

"The Hells Angels that are in Kelowna right now are actually East End
members of that charter, preparing to, in the fall or Christmas-time,
launch their own charter," he said. "We're hoping the raid will [disrupt
the expansion] but that's not the purpose of the raid."

Four members of the Vancouver East End chapter who live in Kelowna were
elevated to full-patch status last year. Six members are needed for a new
chapter, which also must be approved by other chapters.

Paulson said the raids were the result of a lengthy, province-wide
investigation but he would not elaborate further.

"The raids [were] the conclusion of a long, 23-month investigation that
you'll hear more about [Monday]," he said Sunday.

More than 250 officers across the province worked through the weekend and
up to 80 people were involved in the investigation that led to the raids,
Paulson said.

Shortly after police finished their search at the Vancouver East End
clubhouse Saturday morning, chapter president John Bryce showed the damaged
property to reporters. Bryce pointed out five metal doors either knocked
out of their frames or bent by battering rams used by police to get into
the house Friday.

"There were two guys here who said, 'We'll open the door' [when police
arrived Friday], and they didn't listen," Bryce said.

Saturday's brief -- and rare -- tour of the clubhouse was limited to a
ground-floor hallway off a large lounge with a bar, and the concrete
perimeter of the house.

From the hallway, photos and framed Hells Angels paraphernalia could be
seen hanging on the walls of the lounge. One plaque read, "East End House
of Pain," while a sign posted on one of the doors read, "What you do here,
what you see here ... stays here."

Bryce said he had not yet had a chance to assess what items had been seized
by police, but insisted there was "no contraband on site."

"They've taken stuff, but we're just doing inventory," he said. "Mostly
shirts, pictures, stuff like that."

Though he hadn't yet seen the Kelowna clubhouse since it had been searched,
Bryce said he believed it was not as damaged as the Vancouver house.

"[Kelowna RCMP] are a little more civilized, I guess," he said.

Neighbours who witnessed Friday's raid said more than a dozen SWAT team
members descended on the property at about 12:30 p.m. Police used a
battering ram attached to the back of a truck to knock down at least one of
the doors, according to neighbour Linda Koverola.