FORCES FEAR BIKER GANG INFILTRATION

Military May Be Training Ground, Source of Weapons for Drug
Trade

Military officials have launched dozens of secret investigations into
links between members of the Canadian Forces and outlaw motorcycle
gangs, including a probe of weapons stolen from a base in Quebec and
from a U.S. installation in Germany.

The National Post has obtained 29 case files of investigations
conducted in 2003 by military police of soldiers and other employees
of the Department of National Defence suspected of being involved with
criminal gangs, including the Hells Angels, the Bandidos and the
Outlaws -- three of the world's largest and most notorious biker gangs.

The incidents involve soldiers based in British Columbia, Alberta,
Manitoba, Ontario and Quebec and deployed in Germany, Belgium and Bosnia.

The cases pose significant concern for organized crime investigators
who say motorcycle gangs are looking to incorporate people with skills
that could be useful in a street war over the lucrative drug trade,
particularly those experienced with guns and explosives.

Officials also worry that bikers could use soldiers to gain access to
high-powered weapons or engage in drug smuggling using military
transportation.

While the problem has been discussed at the highest levels of the
Defence department, according to internal documents, a DND spokesman
confirmed that no policy preventing soldiers from associating with
biker gangs has been put in place, although one called for in 1999
remains under review.

"It is a concern for us. We monitor it closely," said Captain Mark
Giles, spokesman for the Canadian Forces Provost Marshal, which runs
the military police.

"A good many of our military personnel, through training or from being
deployed operationally in dangerous situations, often have access to
and training in a variety of weapons systems and equipment. If a
member was to have linkages to a criminal biker gang, the temptation
might be there to perhaps provide some of that information or
equipment in the wrong direction," he said.

That seems to have already happened, according to the case
files.

Among the most serious allegations is an investigation launched in
May, 2003, when military police learned of a possible theft of weapons
from Canadian Forces Base Valcartier, near Quebec City.

It appears military investigators suspected it might be related to an
earlier weapons theft from a U.S. military base in Germany, believed
to have been the work of Hells Angels based in the Netherlands. (The
case files have been heavily edited for security and privacy reasons.)
The Canadian probe apparently involved four members of the armed
forces and civilian police in Germany.

It was a serious matter for investigators. Documents show special
handling was employed in the case "due to the potential impact" of the
information. Military officers made unusual arrangements to use secure
communication devices for exchanging information between
investigators, which included an intelligence officer from CFB
Valcartier. The case appears to remain unresolved.

Another investigation was sparked last August when a soldier at CFB
Valcartier admitted he had stolen eight pairs of military-issue night
vision goggles and sold them to an outlaw motorcycle gang.

Also probed is a member of the 1st Canadian Air Division (1 CAD),
Canada's most significant air unit, who admitted in security clearance
interviews that he is a former member of the Hells Angels. The 1 CAD
headquarters serves as the central point of command and control for
Canada's air force and oversees the monitoring of Canada's airspace as
part of NORAD.

An airman with 17 Wing, which shares its Winnipeg base with 1 CAD, was
also under investigation for allegedly associating with the Zig Zag
Crew, a violent street gang aligned with the Hells Angels. Other
members of that gang were also suspected of using the base's gymnasium.

A "damage or threat assessment" was requested after a soldier,
apparently based in Ottawa, was suspected of having links to both the
Hells Angels and the Outlaws, a rival biker gang.

Other soldiers have been found wearing clothing that declares support
for the Hells Angels, carrying a Hells Angels support sticker in their
wallet, several were found visiting biker gang clubhouses, and one
cadet was photographed by police wearing his military-issue uniform at
an event sponsored by a biker gang, among other incidents.

Military officers have been debating restrictions on contact between
soldiers and outlaw bikers since at least 1999, documents show.

"Although there are CF members associating with outlaw motorcycle
gangs or other criminal organizations whose 'raison d'etre' is to
profit from crime, there are currently no administrative or
disciplinary means that are effective in prohibiting this conduct,"
says a memo dated Sept. 30, 2002, from Commander Steve Moore, in
charge of the National Investigation Service, which conducts serious
and sensitive criminal investigations for the military, to the Armed
Forces Council, Canada's top military body.

At an Armed Forces Council meeting in October, 2002, at National
Defence Headquarters in Ottawa, officials were extensively briefed on
the issue. An agenda shows 45 minutes set aside for the presentation
and discussion.

An internal memo sent shortly afterward from DND headquarters to
high-ranking military officers reads: "There appears to be an
increased urgency to get a policy out on the street."

The importance some officers place on the issue is suggested by the
code name of a recent large investigation into soldiers and bikers:
Operation Paramount.

The military's concern, however, is at least partly about
optics.

"It will only take one story to leak out about use of CF weaponry or
personnel involvement in crime to make a very negative story," a
report says.

And an internal e-mail between senior military officers asks: "How can
we prevent the reputation of CF from being harmed by members joining
disreputable/illegal organizations?"

It's a sticky problem for any modern army, said a Canadian Forces
commander who did not want his name published.

"You don't want criminals in the army and you don't want to hand the
keys to the armoury over to a biker gang, but at the same time, we're
not looking for guys who have spent five years at seminary and are
great theologians. We want tough guys who can do tough and unpleasant
things," the army commander told the National Post.

"Nobody wants these guys around in peacetime but I want all of the bad
guys I can muster in wartime, the more the merrier -- as long as they
are disciplined enough to keep their fingers off the trigger until I
order them to fire," he said.

"Soldiers are the implementers of violence ... How do you balance that
with the social graces you want in peacetime -- of showing sweetness
and light, handing out teddy bears and chocolate bars?"

Capt. Giles said people should realize cases of soldiers having
unsavoury links are rare.

"The vast majority of Canadian Forces are upstanding citizens and
doing a fine job. But occasionally there is the odd bad apple and
that's what the military police are here for -- to root that out and
take care of those sorts of situations," he said.