B.C. HELLS ANGELS INDICTED IN $20-MILLION U.S. POT CASE

12 Allegedly Behind Plan To Distribute 2,000 Kg Of Pot In Indiana

B.C.'s Hells Angels are allegedly behind a $20-million US marijuana
conspiracy operation in Indiana that has led to federal grand jury
indictments against 12 individuals, including two alleged associates
of the motorcycle gang in this province who remain fugitives from U.S.
justice.

Ewan Lilford, a 30-year-old resident of the Lower Mainland, and
Patricio Rivera, 31, of Jordan River on southwestern Vancouver Island,
were involved in conspiracies to distribute more than 2,000 kilograms
of B.C. marijuana through southern Indiana, according to the U.S.
attorney's office in Indianapolis.

The indictments against Lilford, Rivera and 10 Indiana residents
allege two separate conspiracies between May 2000 and October 2003.
The 12 persons charged risk maximum sentences of life in prison and
fines of $4 million US on conviction.

Susan Brooks, U.S. attorney for the southern district of Indiana,
alleged that the 12 sought to distribute "$20 million worth of
high-quality 'B.C. Bud' marijuana supplied by members and associates
of the Hells Angels motorcycle gang of British Columbia."

A copy of the indictments faxed to The Vancouver Sun alleges B.C.
marijuana, including seeds used to jump start an illegal
marijuana-growing operation on residential properties in Indiana, was
shipped south by motor vehicle, while cocaine and cash came north.

Lilford is due to appear in Surrey provincial court Sept. 3 on a
charge of possession of cocaine for the purpose of trafficking related
to the Indiana case. Also charged is Glen Jonathan Hehn, 30, described
by police as a full member of the B.C. Nomads Chapter of the Hells
Angels.

The two were arrested in July last year after police seized 51
kilograms of cocaine worth $1.5 million from a truck and a locker at
Public Storage Canada on 192nd Street in Surrey.

Additional cocaine trafficking charges against the two individuals
have since been dropped.

Rick Ciarniello, a Hells Angels member who speaks for the Vancouver
chapter, says he does not know Lilford or Rivera, and would not
consider them associates of the club.

He said it is possible Hehn knows Lilford, but said that when the two
men were arrested in July, no Vancouver club members had ever heard of
Lilford.

Ciarniello said he knows nothing about the club's alleged involvement
in the marijuana-cocaine smuggling conspiracy outlined in the U.S.
indictment and wonders what evidence police had of any Hells Angels
link to the crime when no club members are named in the court document.

"As far as I know, it's somebody who might know someone in the Hells
Angels and as far as I know we're not involved in this importation,"
he said.

The Indiana indictments state that Lilford is owner of HT Sales Inc.,
a motorcycle sales business operating as Hawg Traders. The B.C.
registrar of companies lists him as president of the company and the
address as 2966 Pheasant, in an industrial area of Coquitlam. The
indictments also says that a residence on Essex in Surrey, which is
near 160th Street between King George Highway and Highway 99, figured
in the investigation.

Cathy Lajeunesse, operator of Jordan River's post office and owner of
the community's only restaurant, Shakie's Drive-In, said Wednesday
she's never heard of Rivera. "I haven't heard that name," she said,
noting only about 15 people live in Jordan River. "I know everyone."

Matthew Brookman, the assistant U.S. attorney who is prosecuting the
Indiana case, said in a phone interview that the trial could be held
within the next year, and that he would soon be discussing with his
superiors the possible extradition of Lilford and Rivera.

While Brookman wished he could have charged full members of the Hells
Angels, he said the case remains one of the larger marijuana drug
operations his office has been involved in.

"It was a good case. I would have liked to have named some more
people, but we didn't get to that point."

The prosecutor said the marijuana was imported to Indianapolis,
Bloomington and New Albany, which is across the Ohio River from
Louisville, Kentucky, by motor vehicles driving through official
border crossings. "My experience is the drug dog will find it, if it
gets the opportunity. But there's a lot of motor vehicle traffic and
you can't check every car."

The 10 persons accused in Indiana are not members of biker gangs,
Brookman said.

Among the Canadian enforcement agencies credited with assisting U.S.
authorities in the drug investigation are the RCMP, Victoria police
and the Organized Crime Agency of B.C.

RCMP Sgt. John Ward said the Mounties played a relatively small role
in the Indiana case, mainly supplying intelligence to U.S. authorities
at the early stages of the investigation.

He said the RCMP is not linking the cocaine charges against Lilford
and Hehn to the marijuana conspiracy charges in Indiana. But the U.S.
grand jury indictments specifically mention the Surrey cocaine seizure
as part of its evidence against Lilford.