MASSIVE RAIDS AIM TO CRIPPLE HELLS ANGELS

138 Arrests Expected To Ease Ottawa Drug Traffic

A police crackdown yesterday against Quebec's Hells Angels, which saw
more than 100 bikers arrested and which left their leader Maurice
"Mom" Boucher facing a 13 new murder charges, will put a dent in the
Ottawa drug traffic, police say.

The early-morning series of raids was carried out simultaneously in 77
municipalities across Quebec by more than 2,000 police, including
local, provincial and RCMP officers. The co-operative police operation
was an avowed attempt to "destabilize" the Hells Angels' crime empire.

A total of 138 arrests were expected to follow yesterday's raids, and
police seized $7.5 million in cash, 15 motorcycles, 35 cars, and seven
buildings as well as a store of weapons and drugs.

The crackdown, called Operation Springtime 2001 and intended as a form
of spring cleaning, was the result of a two-year investigation into
the biker gang's criminal activities. While new evidence was collected
in yesterday's raids, police were calling this simply the "icing on
the cake," claiming they have already lined up enough all the evidence
needed to prosecute the bikers with Canada's still barely-touched
anti-gang legislation.

Among the six main parts of yesterday's crackdown was the Outaouais'
Operation Bobcat, where police conducted 50 raids spread over 20
municipalities and, as of yesterday afternoon, had found and arrested
41 of the 44 people they were looking for. The hunt is ongoing for the
remaining group members. Fifteen Ottawa-Carleton police officers were
sworn in on the previous day as peace officers in Quebec so they could
assist in the operation.

There is no Hells Angels' clubhouse in the Outaouais, but the 44
Outaouais people arrested are almost all connected to a group called
the Evil Ones, who are described as a type of minor-league operation
for the Hells Angels.

"In the biker world, they mentor these people. They are aspiring Hells
Angels, who do the dirty work, the street work and work their way
through the ranks," said Lieut. Yves Martel of the Hull police.

At 5:30 yesterday morning, a swat team surrounded the Evil Ones'
stronghold on Rue de Carrefour in Val-des-Monts, 20 kilometres north
of Hull. Unsure of who would be inside or how heavily armed, police
took no chances.

"You don't knock, not at a bunker," said Lieut. Martel.

Police avoided detection by the surveillance cameras outside the
property and stormed the hilltop house, but found no one inside. A
search of the house was done after a second wave of 35 officers
arrived. Motorcycles and boxes of other items were removed. The
members of the group were arrested in their homes.

Among those arrested, police said, was one full-fledged Hells Angel, a
man described by police a the "tutor" who nurtures the development of
the would-be Hells Angels.

Of the 41 arrested, 30 were expected to appear in court in Hull this
morning, while the rest were conditionally released. RCMP Sgt. Marc
Richer stressed that the bikers will be charged under the anti-gang
law, C-95, introduced in 1997, which allows police to prosecute
organized criminal gangs and seize gang assets.

"These people are charged together and will be on trial together,"
Sgt. Richer said. "We have learned to use the new legislative tools.
We've learned a new way to do business." Charges will include
conspiracy to traffic drugs and conspiracy to murder.

The operation is viewed as good news by Ottawa-Carleton police in
terms of its impact on Ottawa's drug trade.

"Effectively, the Evil Ones have been shut down," said Sgt. Richard
Dugal. "They are very big players in the drug traffic in the
Outaouais and Ottawa. The impact is probably going to be felt."

The effect of the raids will certainly be felt by Quebec's Hells
Angels boss, 47-year-old "Mom" Boucher. The investigations leading up
to yesterday's arrests have produced 13 new murder charges against him
and eight against his son, Francis, 25.

Police yesterday raided and seized two homes on Montreal's South Shore
belonging to Mr. Boucher, who is currently in jail awaiting a retrial
for two other counts of attempted murder in the deaths of two prison
guards.

Quebec's Public Security Minister, Serge Menard, said yesterday in
Quebec City that the anti-gang police initiative was "unprecedented,
and we hope it will hurt them."

While the operation concentrated on Quebec, arrests were also made in
Ontario, New Brunswick and British Columbia.