HELLS ANGELS INFILTRATE PORT STAFF, SAYS RCMP

The presence of known Hells Angels on the Vancouver waterfront shows the
growing role the country's ports are playing as entry points for illegal
narcotics, a senior RCMP investigator said yesterday.

Cpl. Roy Bergerman, the RCMP's drug intelligence analyst for British
Columbia, called the violent biker gang "an ongoing concern" at Vancouver's
busy port.

"There are definitely known members of the Hells Angels working on the
waterfront in Vancouver," he said. A 1995 police report on the situation
counted 10 known gang members and 30 of their associates within the
longshoremen's union.

"Because containers are such a popular means of transport for this stuff
(cocaine and heroin), you're going to see it anywhere there's a container
terminal," Bergerman said from Vancouver.

He said it's one thing to identify gang members, but removing them from the
waterfront is quite another. "You can't just arrest them on those grounds,"
he said. "It's just a matter of trying to keep track of what they're doing
down there."

In Halifax, where a joint investigation of the RCMP and city police led to
the arrest last week of one member of the Hells Angels and two associates
on drug charges, police are hoping to stifle the gang's growth.

Police say there are nine members of the gang in Nova Scotia, the only
chapter east of Quebec.

"The fear is that we don't want them to move in," RCMP spokesman Sgt. Bill
Price said.

"We don't want another Quebec down here. The possibility is the gang could
grow if we don't do something about it."

RCMP and city police spokesmen said they have no knowledge of a Hells Angel
presence on the Halifax waterfront. But Halifax Police Chief Vince
MacDonald said it's something his force will keep an eye on as it takes
over from the recently disbanded Ports Canada police.

MacDonald said there is "a high level of concern" that crime organizations
such as the Hells Angels use cargo containers to bring drugs into ports
throughout North America.

Sydney-Victoria MP Peter Mancini, the NDP's justice critic, accused the
federal government of letting crime flourish in the country's ports.

He said the decision to dismantle the Ports Canada police and pass the
responsibilities to municipal forces will only make it easier for gangs to
move in.

The RCMP's Bergerman acknowledged that loss of the Ports Canada police will
make it more difficult to police the waterfront while the municipal forces
get to know their new turf.

"They don't have all those years of experience on the waterfront," he said.
"But it's not like going to a different planet."