COCAINE BUST NETS MAN TIED TO BOUCHER

More than a dozen people were arrested in the Montreal area yesterday as
part of a large-scale cocaine bust that spanned three provinces.

Among those arrested was Steven (Bull) Bertrand, 35, a man with ties to the
Hells Angels Nomad chapter in Montreal and its leader Maurice (Mom) Boucher.

Bertrand was the target of a botched hit in the Plateau Mont Royal March
19. He was sitting in the Tokyo Sushi Bar on Park Ave. when someone opened
fire from outside the restaurant. Two men with ties to the Bandidos biker
gang have been charged with attempted murder.

In evidence made public during the continuing megatrial of Hells Angels in
the special courthouse at Bordeaux Jail, several members of a Hells
underling gang were captured on video saying they considered Bertrand an
associate who preferred to remain outside the gang.

One Hells underling described Bertrand as a nonchalant associate who came
and went as he pleased.

Bertrand and about a dozen other people are expected to be charged in
Montreal this morning.

The RCMP were saying little about the arrests in Quebec, Nova Scotia and
Ontario. But according to a court document, Bertrand and at least nine
others from Quebec and Nova Scotia are to be charged with conspiring with a
man named Guillermo Minaya to import and traffic in cocaine.

The document alleges the 10 conspired to bring cocaine into Canada in
containers aboard two vessels, the MV Singapour Express and the MV Kuala
Lumpur.

The allegations in the document indicate the RCMP tracked the containers as
they went through the port of Nova Scotia. One container arrived at the
port last year while the other arrived on Feb. 9.

A police source said yesterday's operation arose from a lengthy
investigation of a Nova Scotia man suspected of smuggling large quantities
of narcotics out of the Halifax port for various organized-crime groups in
Quebec and Ontario. The man was under investigation for nearly two years.

The RCMP in Halifax have scheduled a press conference for this morning
where they are expected to provide more details on the operation.

RCMP Sgt. Wayne Noonan said more than 90 officers were involved in the
Halifax part of the operation.

Noonan said those arrested in Halifax "have no direct link" to the Hells
Angels.

At least 25 people had been arrested in Nova Scotia and Quebec by yesterday
afternoon. More arrests were expected in Ontario, police said.

Besides Bertrand, those arrested in Quebec yesterday include Dean Roberts,
37, of Pierrefonds; Rodolfo Rojas, 45, of Laval; Serge Langlois, 45, of
Sutton; Jacques Geoffroy, 51, of Repentigny; and Pierre Bergeron, 46, of
Montreal.