OUTLAW BIKER WAR LOOMS ON LOCAL HORIZON

Events that took place in Montreal last week and planned in Texas may
have a violent effect on us, here, in British Columbia.

The outlaw motorcycle gang Rock Machine, which has been engaged in a
violent war for control of the lucrative drug trade in Quebec with the
Hells Angels, has been officially made a "Support Club" of the
Bandidos, one of the so-called "Big Four" outlaw gangs in the world.

The move allows Rock Machine to wear red and yellow, the colours of
the Bandidos as well as a "support Bandidos" patch on their own "colours."

Law enforcement analysts say it is a prelude to the Bandidos
officially taking over the Rock Machine in a ceremony called a
"patchover."

Depending on how the Rock Machine handles its new alliance and the
Bandidos needs for new supplies of money, a "patchover" could occur
within the next year.

Veteran biker investigator Mike Simpson, of the Harris County
Sheriff's Department in Houston, Texas, homebase for the Bandidos
mother chapter, said on Friday, "It's all about money and the money
derived from drugs."

According to Simpson there is an uneasy peace between the Hells Angels
and the Bandidos.

In 1996, a shooting war broke out in Europe between affiliate chapters
of the two gangs.

At the funeral of a Bandido, cut down in a hail of gunfire at the
Copenhagen International Airport, Bandidos travelled from Australia
and all over the U.S. to show support. Many wore patches on their
colours that read "God forgives. Bandidos don't."

The war raged over two years and even included a missile attack which
took several lives. Ultimately a truce was reached but Simpson calls
it a "fragile peace."

The long time members of the Bandidos are against the patchover with
the Rock Machine. They believe it is just inviting an escalated war
with the Angels. But it is the younger members anxious to increase
their wealth, influence and power base who want the alliance, come
what may.

The new president of the Bandidos "nation" is a relative newcomer
named George Wegers. He has been to Quebec several times in the past
year or so according to U.S. police intelligence.

The strong resistance between the old guard in the Bandidos and the
new blood is "likely to ignite WW III among the Bandits," according to
Simpson.

The potential for an expanded war with the Hells Angels frightens many
Bandidos. The biker world is one of loyalty to a "brother."

In the Angels world, they sport a tattoo that reads "AFFA" -- Angels
Forever, Forever Angels. The Bandidos have a similar code.

"This will be like putting gasoline on a open fire," said one
undercover cop who requested anonymity.

In the four or so years the Rock Machine and the Hells Angels have
been fighting, the body count has climbed to over 80, including an
11-year-old boy killed in 1995 because he was walking by a car
booby-trapped with a bomb.

RCMP officer, J.P. Levesque, who works with the Criminal Intelligence
Services Canada, believes the outlaw motorcycle gangs are the most
pervasive problem facing law enforcement today.

He is convinced the situation in Quebec will not end anytime soon and,
like his counterparts in the States, is concerned about the
affiliation with the Bandidos.

"It's a matter of respect," said Levesque. "The Angels can't afford to
lose face by giving in."

Levesque said in the week since the new arrangement had been reached
between the Rock Machine and the Bandidos, there have been two
shootings and a firebombing directly attributable to the war between
the two groups.

In one incident, the founder of the Rock machine was gunned down and
in a retaliatory strike, a nightclub, said to be an Angels'
stronghold, was hit with petrol bombs.

While all of this may be interesting to you, why should you be
concerned? After all the killing is being done 3,000 miles away. Isn't
it?

Well yes, but only as things are now.

If the war escalates, as certainly appears to be the case, and the
"patchover" occurs, the likelihood will exist of a war between the
Angels and the Bandidos which could carry over throughout the biker
world.

The Bandidos are strongest in the Southern United States. But, their
next strongest foothold is in Washington State. The nearest chapter is
in Ferndale, just a 45-minute drive from downtown Vancouver.

They also have five chapters in the Seattle area, including Tacoma.
They are said to control the bulk of the methamphetamine trade in the
Pacific Northwest.

B.C. Hells Angels are among the richest in the biker world. The police
say they control the hydroponic marijuana markets and routinely trade
their product south of the 49th for cocaine.

With all the money at stake, is it a great leap in mental gymnastics
to suppose the war in Quebec might spread here, onto our streets?

As Deputy Sheriff Simpson said, "It's all about money."

And, there is one hell of a lot of money at stake.