HELLS BUNKER RAIDED, 35 ARRESTED

Alleged Drug Ring. Trois Rivieres Centre of Joint Police Action

Police raids on a Hells Angels bunker and 20 other sites led to the arrests
of 35 people yesterday.

The raids began at 5:30 a.m. and involved 267 members of the mixed regional
police squad, consisting of officers from the RCMP, the Surete du Quebec
and municipal forces.

Police arrested 31 of 37 people wanted on arrest warrants. All are alleged
to be members of a drug-production and smuggling ring related to the Trois
Rivieres chapter of the Hells Angels. The remaining six were at large
yesterday.

The 31 face charges of gangsterism, drug trafficking and conspiracy to
traffic drugs.

Four others not sought on warrants were arrested on drug-possession charges
yesterday.

Investigators swooped down on the bunker in Trois Rivieres and key sites in
the Mauricie and central Quebec regions.

Francois Hinse, a full-patch member of the Trois Rivieres Hells Angels, was
arrested. His brother Marc-Andre, also a full-patch member of the gang, is
still on the run.

Another member of the Trois Rivieres Hells Angels, prospect Jessy Kean,
also was charged.

About 20 suspects appeared at the Trois Rivieres courthouse yesterday.
Crown prosecutors Nathalie Jomphe and Charles Levasseur objected to bail.
The accused are to return to court next Wednesday.

Roger Bellemare, a longtime lawyer for the Hells Angels, will represent
Francois Hinse.

A source confirmed an undisclosed number of pills were discovered inside
the compound. "If they were for headaches, I've never seen pills like that
before," one member of the police squad said.

RCMP Corporal Patrice Gelinas, a spokesperson for the mixed regional police
squad, said: "Up to now, the operation has yielded a number of handguns,
drugs of all kinds, and cash."

The investigation leading to the raids started 20 months ago. RCMP, SQ and
Trois Rivieres police executed more than 40 warrants over that period to
gather evidence against the 37 suspects.

During their investigation, police seized 2,000 marijuana plants, 15
kilograms of marijuana ready for distribution, 1.5 kilos of hashish, one
kilo of cocaine, $28,000 in cash and $30,000 in equipment.

It was the third time this year the Hells Angels have been hit by the mixed
regional squad.

In February, 12 members of the Hells Angels South chapter and three members
of the Montreal chapter were arrested. Last month, police nabbed Paul
(Sasquatch) Porter, president of the Ontario chapter of the Nomads, an
elite wing of the Hells Angels, in connection with a drug-trafficking and
stolen vehicle ring.

Close to 100 individuals linked to biker gangs have been arrested in the
past 51/2 months.

"More operations are to come," Gelinas said. "One investigation leads to
another."