ANGELS RAISE LITTLE HELL IN QUIET SUBURBS

Were it not for three Harleys parked out front, the two-story white stucco
house with the trimmed lawn and shrubs wouldn't stand out in the
residential, east Vancouver neighbourhood.

The house is a Hells Angels clubhouse, one of several in British Columbia's
Lower Mainland. Most are located in quiet bedroom communities such as
Langley, Coquitlam, and Pitt Meadows.

There are no wild parties. Police are never called to break up brawls. The
club's aging members, sometimes dressed in suits, meet there to socialize
and talk business.

To add to their benign image, only a handful of B.C. Hells Angels have
criminal records, a point the bikers often make when they complain of
police harassment and persecution.

But B.C.'s Hells Angels aren't benign. Police say they have a secure grip
on one of the most lucrative drug trades in North America: the cultivation
and the sale of the province's homegrown and highly potent marijuana.

Hells Angels are also linked to cocaine trafficking.

RCMP Inspector Kim Clark, who heads the province's proceeds-of-crime unit,
said the Hells Angels are key players in the so-called grow-op industry,
estimated to be worth $4-billion to $10-billion a year.

But to date, police and Crown attorneys can't point to any significant
convictions of Hells Angels for drug trafficking.

While he was attorney-general, B.C. Premier Ujjal Dosanjh acknowledged that
the Hells Angels operated with impunity in the province, saying the gang
had succeeded in intimidating police, Crowns and journalists.

"This started out as a very insignificant problem in the early 1970s," Mr.
Dosanjh said two years ago. "If we had been doing our job, the problem
wouldn't have grown to the extent it has."

Today, police haven't improved their track record with Hells Angels,
despite the establishment two years ago of the Organized Crime Agency, a
100-officer unit, charged with fighting outlawed gangs.

"There has not been an effective, co-ordinated police strategy to deal with
Hells Angels," said Inspector Andy Richards, who heads the agency's outlaw
biker gang unit.

Members of the Hells Angels met in Winnipeg this weekend, participating in
an integration ceremony of another bike gang.

Police believe members of the Los Bravos biker gang were integrated with
the local Hells Angels chapter, hidden behind blue tarps strung up to
thwart police surveillence of their clubhouse.

In the past, competing police departments have been reluctant to share
their information and commit big resources to lengthy investigations, Insp.
Richards added.

Law enforcement's spotty track record may improve. Later this fall, two
Hells Angels members from Vancouver's east-end chapter are to stand trial
on several counts of trafficking cocaine and conspiracy to traffic cocaine.

In the past, police have also alleged that Hells Angels and their
associates had taken jobs at ports in Vancouver and Halifax to smuggle
drugs into Canada, a charge the ports denied.

The B.C. Hells Angels are also the world's wealthiest. There are about 90
members in seven chapters across the province and other chapters regularly
hit them up for cash. Recently, the B.C. Hells Angels sent out a fax to
other chapters gently asking them to stop requesting loans.

Insp. Clark said the Hells Angels have avoided prosecution because they're
rich, well-connected, and shrewd. They conduct their business outside to
avoid wiretaps. And they have expert legal advice.

Outspoken B.C. Hells Angel Ricky Ciarniello has openly challenged police to
name any Angels involved in a criminal activity. According to Mr.
Ciarniello, Hells Angels members and their associates are regularly
harassed by the police.