RESERVE 'A SAFE PLACE' FOR ORGANIZED CRIME

A multimillion-dollar drug network, unfettered by authority and
controlled by Hells Angels, is behind the current civil unrest at
Kanesatake, the stage for the 1990 Oka standoff.

The lucrative marijuana grow operations on the Quebec Mohawk Territory
are controlled by Rockers North Chapter, a Montreal Hells Angels
puppet club.

Until this week, the drug network ran quietly and with impunity,
raking in millions for Hells Angels.

Tensions erupted on the reserve, about 50 kilometres west of Montreal,
after the band's police chief was deposed in an unprecedented move by
leaders to finally get tough on crime.

Described as ruffians, supporters of the ousted soft-on-crime police
chief took to the streets Monday, burning Grand Chief James Gabriel's
house to the ground, torching his car and blocking a highway in
protest. Late last night, a deal was reached to resolve the crisis,
including the appointment of an interim police chief.

"It's been a safe place for organized crime," said Guy Ouellette, a
leading outlaw biker expert and former Quebec provincial police
investigator.

"Organized crime is taking advantage of the fact that nobody is
(cracking down). There's no police surveillance. It's just
Peacekeepers. There's no involvement of the Peacekeepers in the fight
against drug dealers," said Mr. Ouellette, who testifies as an expert
witness at Hells Angels trials across the country.

"It's a community that has autonomy and its own police. And the normal
police, like Surete du Quebec and RCMP, cannot interfere or intervene
in that territory. That helps out the bikers a lot because for them,
not having to worry about a normal police agency, it's helping them,"
Mr. Ouellette said.

"It's a free land. It's protected against police agencies and
organized crime benefits from it. The community is now saying enough
is enough," he said.

In the past, even members of the 12-member Peacekeepers have
complained about their chief's reputed tolerance.

Grand Chief Gabriel reinstated Terry Isaac, a former police chief, and
has vowed to rid his tiny nation of organized crime.

"It's a political issue. They want to have their own police. They
don't want SQ or RCMP. There's a faction against any kind of police
control over the drug market. It's the reason for the crisis because
they are so divided," the biker expert said.

It is understood that the Montreal Hells Angels and their affiliated
gang, Rockers North Chapter, are monitoring the unrest closely.

"They will stay real quiet and keep a low profile. They will wait for
them to solve their internal problems, then they will restart like
nothing happened," Mr. Ouellette said.

In June 2000, a year-long RCMP probe concluded a trafficking network
had smuggled an estimated 900 kilograms of marijuana from Quebec to
New York via Kanesatake and Akwasasne territory.

A Mohawk radio report once estimated there was $300-million worth of
marijuana growing across the territory every year.

The Hells Angels, the world's most feared criminal corporation, first
infiltrated Indian reserves so long ago that they are now openly
recruiting children on reserves across the country.

After highlighting such a case in Manitoba, Senator Thelma Chalifoux,
chair of a 2001 standing committee on aboriginal peoples, said: "We
have serious issues in Kanesatake that are affecting the children, the
young and the elders. I find that being a gang member can give a child
an identity.

"When you go into the communities and then all of a sudden you are in
a larger centre where to be an Indian is bad and to have a different
coloured skin is bad."

While the small Peacekeepers police force hasn't aggressively pursued
organized crime, it is not for lack of training.

"They are very well trained ... as a cop you're supposed to be there
to protect people. It's a job of arresting those who break the law.
But you can close your eyes and pass the time, or you can do
something," Mr. Ouellette said

"For the community, Chief Gabriel has said enough is enough...."