HELLS ANGELS, ASSOCIATES AIM TO STRENGTHEN LOCAL DRUG TRADE

The Hells Angels criminal organization is interested in strengthening
its grip on the thriving cocaine trade in the Steinbach and
surrounding areas, according to the city's RCMP.

"Hells Angels do have a presence in Steinbach," Steinbach RCMP Cpl.
Rob Lasson said in a recent interview.

With this news, however, Southeast residents shouldn't expect to see
full-patched Hells Angels bikers frequenting local businesses.

"It's (the Hells Angels) associates that are coming to Steinbach, what
they're doing is pushing their sub-dealers," he explained, noting that
the sub-dealers make frequent appearances in Steinbach-area bars.

The upshot of these local inroads by the criminal organization, which
controls a large percentage of the province's drug trade, is that it's
now easier than ever to purchase illegal substances in the Southeast.

"A lot of powdered cocaine is moved into Steinbach," Lasson
emphasized, "it's really easy to buy (cocaine in the area)," he stated
matter-of-factly.

He speculated that Steinbach's proximity to Winnipeg is just one of
the reasons the Hells Angels perceive Steinbach to be "an easy market"
to sell their drugs.

In addition, the increased cocaine trade has had a ripple effect on
other types of crime in the region.

"We're also seeing a significant increase in the amount of property
theft due to people wanting money to purchase drugs," he pointed out.

Some progress has been made in the local war on drugs-including the
arrest in September of five locals for cocaine trafficking and the
arrest of an alleged crack dealer last month-Cpl. Lasson said the
detachment is in dire need of more officers to efficiently deal with
the crisis.

"Our resources are stretched to the limit-our caseloads are so full
that we can't follow up on the (local drug trade) intelligence we
receive to the extent we'd like to."

Within the past few days, Steinbach MLA Kelvin Goertzen has publicly
addressed the concerns of residents over the size of the city's RCMP
detachment.