COPS KEPT EYE ON STRIP BAR BECAUSE OF DRUG TRAFFIC

Boite Was Closed For A Time After Officers Got Coke

At the height of the biker gang war in both Montreal and Quebec City, the
Cabaret Lady Mary-Ann was kept under a watchful eye by police, who had
noted it was a frequent hangout of the Hells Angels.

Located on Charest Blvd., one of Quebec City's busiest streets, the Lady
Mary-Ann was shut down temporarily by the police in 1997. The closing was
based on complaints filed by police investigators with an organized crime
squad based in Quebec City.

The strip bar lost its licence with the Regie des alcools, des courses et
des jeux, in part because two Hells Angels underlings - turned informant
for the Surete du Quebec - alleged the gang's drugs were being sold there.
Undercover officers were able to purchase cocaine inside the bar.

"It was never owned by the Hells Angels," said a police source yesterday.
"But the Hells were often in the place, as well as the gangs affiliated
with the Hells Angels. They held meetings there. But that is about it."

The same police source said the gang stopped holding meetings there years
ago, after the closing of the bar and its alleged ties to the outlaw
motorcycle gang caused headlines in the local media.

Owner Johanne Dolbec fought the loss of the bar's licence and hired Roger
Bellemare, a lawyer who often represented Hells Angels members in Trois
Rivieres, to defend the bar's interests.

The bar was eventually able to open its doors again, and while Dolbec
fought the case in court, investigators from the same organized crime squad
raided the bar in October 1997, arresting two dancers on suspicion they
were trafficking in illicit drugs.

Dolbec is currently listed as the bar's president in a provincial business
registry. Both she and another woman listed as the bar's majority owner
could not be reached for comment yesterday.