DOSANJH VOWS ACTIONS TO COMBAT BIKER GANGS

The move is welcomed by Vancouver city police officials, who have been
pressing for help to fight out-of-control gang crimes.

Claiming police are losing the battle against biker gangs, Attorney-General
Ujjal Dosanjh is promising immediate action to combat out-of-control crimes
involving smuggling, drugs and intimidation.

Dosanjh promised an action plan within two weeks, hinting it may include
further police resources.

Vancouver city police, whose members have been pressing for more officers
and money to fight biker gangs, welcomed Dosanjh's comments Wednesday.

``Obviously, we're very pleased with the attorney-general's
response,'' media liaison officer Constable Anne Drennan said. ``And
we look forward to meeting with him in the near future regarding his
initiatives.''

Drennan said police officials met with Dosanjh several weeks ago on
the issue. She said investigators want a special joint-forces unit
dedicated to dealing with outlaw motorcycle gangs in the province.

Quebec created a similar unit after an 11-year-old boy was killed by
shrapnel from a car bomb in 1995.

At the police briefing, ``the full complexity and seriousness of the
problem was brought home to me,'' Dosanjh told reporters Wednesday.

``This started out as a very insignificant problem in the early 1970s.
If we had been doing our job the problem wouldn't have grown to the
extent it has,'' he admitted.

Dosanjh said it is unacceptable that journalists, police and federal
drug prosecutors have all been intimidated by gangs or gang associates.

``No attorney-general, no police officer can function in that kind of
environment. We want to make sure we win the battle.''

A CBC Radio reporter, who has been working on a series of stories
about the Hells Angels, received a possible death threat last week. He
returned home to find his stereo receiver wrapped in plastic and
drowned in a bathtub full of water.

Detective Constable Al Dalstrom, a member of Vancouver's special
projects unit, has said officers in his team have also received
threats and had their houses put under surveillance.

The unit turned up the heat on members of the Hells Angels over the
past year by busting more than 50 marijuana grow operations across the
Lower Mainland.

The busts have resulted in charges against a number of Hells Angels
associates and members of so-called ``puppet'' clubs such as the
Regulators Motorcycle Club.

Police say the Regulators serves as a farm team or ``proving ground,''
and that its members often graduate to become full members of the
Hells Angels' East End Chapter.

Dalstrom said the raids of marijuana grow operations are designed to
interrupt the cash flow of Hells Angels members, and target associates
who are allegedly producing the income.

In many cases, criminals smuggle the marijuana to the U.S. where it is
exchanged for cocaine, which is then transported back to Canada, police say.

While Dosanjh is planning immediate action, B.C. is only a small
player in the international problem.

The attorney-general also said he plans to lobby federal
Solicitor-General Andy Scott for a coordinated plan to combat biker
gangs across Canada, saying the gang problems of Quebec cannot be
allowed to spread to other parts of the country.

``He [Scott] needs to now cough up some resources to deal with this
issue across the country,'' Dosanjh said.

``We will do our part, but he needs to do his, and I'm going to be
speaking to him in that regard.''