HELLS ANGELS BOSSES ARRESTED AS POLICE SWOOP DOWN ON CRIME RING

Drug-Trafficking, Firearms Charges Laid After Major Probe

In what is being called "a tremendous victory for the police," top
officials of two B.C. outlaw motorcycle gangs are behind bars along with
eight of their underlings.

A 20-month-long investigation involving more than 100 officers has
culminated in firearm and drug-trafficking charges against six members of
the Prince George Renegade motorcycle club and four members of the Hells
Angels' Vancouver chapter.

Sgt. Dave Goddard of the RCMP's Greater Vancouver drug section said the
arrests and seizure of cash, cocaine, marijuana and firearms will "have a
significant impact . . . on the way they conduct their business.

"Our mandate is to target the very top levels of organized crime and I
think that you can see we've done this," Goddard said at a Vancouver press
conference yesterday.

"We have the presidents of two major chapters that have been indicted
within this investigation."

To his knowledge, Goddard said, the president of a major criminal
organization has never been arrested in B.C.

"This is a tremendous victory for the police in British Columbia," he said.
Among those sited as leaders of the bikers was Norman Edward Krogstad, a
57-year-old Surrey man who police labelled the president of the Vancouver
chapter.

Rick Ciarniello, 59, who owns the Coquitlam clubhouse where the Vancouver
chapter of the Angels is based, said the police are wrong in naming
Krogstad as president of the Vancouver Angels.

Krogstad was charged with 14 counts of trafficking cocaine.

"He is a member of the Vancouver Hells Angels but he is not president of
the Hells Angels -- not even the Vancouver chapter," said Ciarniello
shortly after police announced the charges.

"Somebody else is the president," he said, but he refused to say who that is.

"In spite of what police say, no matter what individuals do, if there is
any criminal activity on behalf of any of the member of the Hells Angels
Motorcycle Club, they do it for themselves and not for the Hells Angels,"
Ciarniello."

Goddard, however, stood by his allegation that Krogstad, a heavyset
grey-haired man, was the head of the Vancouver chapter.

RCMP described the Prince George Renegades as a "support club" for the
Vancouver chapter of the Hells Angels.

The Vancouver-based RCMP drug section got involved in the investigation in
May 2003 after the Prince George drug section advised they had an "agent
who was capable of infiltrating organized outlaw motorcycle gangs in both
Prince George and Vancouver," Goddard said.

"The RCMP developed a task force to investigate the allegations of
organized crime, extortion and drug trafficking with the specific intention
to detect and dismantle these crime groups," he said.

The RCMP undercover operation bought a large quantity of drugs, stolen
property and illegal guns from various members of the motorcycle clubs and
their associates, Goddard alleged yesterday.

Investigators seized more than $100,000 in cash, 11 kilograms of marijuana,
14 kg of cocaine and three John Deere Golf Course lawn tractors valued at
more than $100,000. The tractors were stolen from Prince George in 2003 and
recovered in Kamloops.

Mounties also seized four handguns, one sawed-off shotgun, one fully
automatic AK-47 assault rifle and a large assortment of prohibited
ammunition and other weapons.

Goddard wouldn't disclose the value of the seized drugs but said they were
destined for B.C. markets.

"The marijuana and cocaine were being sold by these outlaw motorcycle
gangs," he alleged. "What's really important here is the number of doses
that we've been able to take off the street."

Goddard said the RCMP's investigation continues and additional arrests and
charges are possible. The most recent seizures and arrests occurred Friday.

Four of the 10 accused appeared in Vancouver B.C. Supreme Court yesterday
under heavy security.

The following men were arrested and charged. All but one remains in custody:

- - Krogstad is charged with 14 counts of trafficking in cocaine.

- - Cedric Baxter Smith, 55, of Langley, is said to be a senior member of the
Hells Angels Vancouver chapter. Smith is charged with 11 counts of
trafficking in cocaine.

- - Jason Cyrus Arkinstall, 31, of Surrey is charged with one count of
cocaine trafficking.

- - David Patrick O'Hara, 43, is charged with three counts of trafficking
marijuana and one count of trafficking cocaine. RCMP said O'Hara, of
Surrey, is a former member of the Hells Angels Vancouver chapter and was a
member of the Mission City Hells Angels at the time of the alleged offences.

The remaining six, wearing orange prison overalls, appeared by video link
from the Prince George Regional Corrections Centre.

- - William John Moore, 35, is the president of the Renegades. He's charged
with three counts of trafficking cocaine.

- - Derek Charles Timmins, 32, a prospect for the Renegades, faces five
firearms charges.

- - David George Gerow, 45, former sergeant-at-arms with the Renegades, is
charged with one count of trafficking in cocaine.

- - Darrin Allan Massey, 34, a former member of the Renegades, is charged
with five firearms offences.

- - Jason Dennis Townsend, 27, a member of the Renegades, is charged with one
count of cocaine trafficking.

- - George James McBeth, 36, an associate of the Renegades, is charged with
four firearms offences. He was released on bail.

Most will appear in court Friday for bail hearings. Krogstad and Smith will
appear next in court Feb.4. McBeth is ordered to reappear March 7.