HELLS ANGELS AND THEIR PUPPETS

Drug Wars, Jailing Of High-Profile Angels Spurs Creation Of Support
Gangs

New biker clubs with links to the notorious Hells Angels are sprouting
up all over B.C., much to the concern of police specialists in outlaw
motorcycle gangs.

An HA support club known as the Jesters has opened a new clubhouse in
the 10600-block of Scott Road in Surrey, and another group with links
to the Angels -- the Shadow motorcycle club -- took over a Whalley
clubhouse off King George Highway earlier this year that had been run
briefly by the Outcasts puppet club.

Police have seen other biker clubs started in recent months in
Ashcroft, Fort St. John, Campbell River and 100 Mile House, most of
whom have made appearances at events with the Hells Angels.

"This is also a phenomenon we are seeing across Canada," Insp. Gary
Shinkaruk, of the RCMP's Outlaw Motorcycle Gang unit, said Wednesday.
"There are more of these support puppet clubs springing up right
everywhere, even in the Maritimes."

Police say puppet clubs are being used as a survival tool by the Hells
Angels after a series of recent convictions of high-profile members
and the growth of violent rival mid-level drug gangs such as the
United Nations and Red Scorpions.

The puppet gangs -- so-called because the Hells Angels are thought to
pull their strings -- create a much larger network that HA members can
use criminally, while insulating themselves from law
enforcement.

Just this summer, as the Haney chapter of the Hells Angels celebrated
its anniversary, police saw bikers wearing a three-piece patch for the
fledgling "Devils Army" motorcycle club.

Shinkaruk said the Devils Army is headed by long-time Hells Angel
associate Ricky Alexander, 54.

The patch shows the puppet club as operating out of Campbell River,
although Alexander is a Lower Mainland resident who owns an acreage in
Mission and condos in Burnaby and Pitt Meadows.

"They came out of the Haney (Hells Angels) clubhouse sporting those
colours. That certainly indicates they have the approval," Shinkaruk
said. "It is certainly my belief that they are going to be subservient
to Haney and at their beck and call."

He said the Haney chapter has "had internal strife and difficulty with
the Red Scorpions," two reasons why they might want to expand their
circle of friends.

The new Devils Army head visited the RCMP in Campbell River to tell
them the group was not criminal, Shinkaruk said.

Alexander was convicted in April of 2001 of possession of a prohibited
firearm and ammunition after being stopped in Vancouver with what
police believed was a hit list in the glove box of his rental car and
a loaded pink handgun in his waistband.

The first name on the hand-written list was "John Suspect" who
Vancouver police said was a person of interest in the murder a month
earlier of full-patch Angel Donald Roming. Also on the list were three
of John Suspect's associates, including a man later gunned down at a
Vancouver gas station.

Police biker specialists have also seen a new biker club out of Fort
St. John called the Handsome Bastards, linked to the Prince George
Renegades, a Hells Angels puppet club for the last 11 years.

It was at the Renegades clubhouse about a year ago that police first
saw the Lost Souls, a new patched club operating out of Ashcroft,
Shinkaruk said.

Earlier this year, police became aware of another puppet club called
the Throttle Lockers, out of 100 Mile House, which has links to the
Hells Angels chapter in Kelowna.

Another group of concern to police has been around for the last three
years and is called the Veterans' Motorcycle Club. Its website
indicates every member has to own a Harley Davidson and have been in
the Canadian Armed Forces for at least three years.

No one listed on the site returned e-mail requests for interviews
Wednesday.

On the Veterans' website, the bikers claim they are "not a 1-per-cent
club," meaning they are not involved in criminal activity. But police
say they do have an association with the Hells Angels.

Shinkaruk said no one can use the "MC" on their back patches in B.C.
without first clearing it with the Hells Angels.

"In order to have the three-piece MC patch, you need to have the
sanctioning or approval of the Hells Angels," he said. "This is
primarily a Hells Angels province when it comes to outlaw motorcycle
gangs."

Rick Ciarniello, spokesman for the Hells Angels, denied Wednesday that
his club has any puppet or support groups.

"We don't have any of those," he said. "I have nothing to say about
any of that. It has nothing to do with us."

Asked about the Devils Army being present at the Haney party this
summer, Ciarniello said:

"Everybody who comes to our event doesn't necessarily have anything to
do with us."

He said the puppet club expansion "is a non-story."

"Listen Kim, it has got nothing to do with us," he said before hanging
up the phone.

Documents found by police in 2006 when White Rock chapter
sergeant-at-arms Villy Roy Lynnerup was arrested with a gun at
Vancouver International Airport tell a different story.

The Hells Angels papers made reference to two new puppet clubs: the
Outcasts, linked to the Vancouver chapter, and the Jesters out of the
White Rock club.

There was even a copy of the Jesters' clown-face patch, which was just
painted on the front of its new Surrey clubhouse on an industrial
property in north Surrey. It is surrounded by a high wire fence with a
private-property sign stuck on the front gate. The sign on the door
says "no cellphones or cameras."

The Outcasts was a short-lived club. It operated from the same unit
off King George Highway that the Shadow motorcycle club took over a
few months ago.

Surrey Mayor Dianne Watts said she had been made aware of the two new
clubs in town.

"They are on police radar. They are aware of them. Our bylaw officers
are aware as well," Watts said, adding that if action can be taken, it
will be.

"The RCMP and bylaws are looking at exactly what is going on here,"
she said.

Shinkaruk said the Hells Angels may need the new associations to
prosper in B.C. after a number of convictions of high-profile members
in recent years.

"They need more of a presence so that the outlaw motorcycle gang thing
can survive," Shinkaruk said.

The move comes after the expansion across B.C. of mid-level drug gangs
such as the United Nations, the Independent Soldiers and the Red
Scorpions, said Insp. Andy Richards, a biker expert now with the Port
Moody police.

"They are not happy that groups like the UN gang, the Red Scorpions,
the IS, have grown in the last five years. And I think the rebirth in
B.C. of many of these puppet clubs is their response to losing some
ground in the pecking order," Richards said.

He said in the 1990s, there was a similar period in which HA puppet
gangs with names like the Squamish Tribesmen, the Smithers Talismen,
the Williams Lake Wildcats and the Regulators were formed.

"Then they kind of fell by the wayside," he said. Some Regulators
became HA members.

"Now we are seeing a period of regrowth where the club is recognizing
that they need to bolster the ranks and grow -- even by virtue of
puppet clubs -- to be a competitor out there in the criminal
underworld."

He said the puppet clubs "exist at the discretion of the Hells Angels
and they are subordinate to the Hells Angels."

There is a risk to affiliation with puppet clubs, Richards said. In
Quebec, police managed successful prosecutions by recruiting
informants and agents in the puppet clubs.

"And that was their ultimate downfall," Richards said. "In my view,
the Hells Angels are constantly doing the sort of risk/reward
analysis: What is the risk of having these puppet clubs out there with
criminal ties to our members versus what is the reward from that same
relationship?"

POLICE SAY THESE NEWLY FORMED PUPPET CLUBS ARE LINKED TO THE HELLS ANGELS

Several new biker clubs have been established over the last year, from
Campbell River to Fort St. John

JESTERS

Origins: First identified in Hells Angels documents seized during the arrest of a White
Rock chapter member in 2006.

Region: Active in Metro Vancouver with a new clubhouse in Surrey that opened in the
summer.

HANDSOME BASTARDS

Origins: First identified by police about two years ago as being associated with the
Renegades puppet club.

Region: Based up north in Fort St. John, two members are believed to have joined the
Renegades.

DEVILS ARMY

Origins: Police first saw the Devils Army patch at the Hells Angels Haney chapter
anniversary party this summer.

Region: Head Devil Ricky Alexander is based in Metro Vancouver, but also spends time in
Campbell River.

THROTTLE LOCKERS

Origins: This biker club was first noticed by police earlier this year and is believed
to have about 10 members.

Region: The Lockers are based in 100 Mile House and have close ties to the Kelowna Hells
Angels.

VETERANS

Origins: According to its website, the Veterans began in 2006, but police say they only
recently started wearing an Angels-sanctioned patch.

Region: Active in B.C. and Alberta and say on their website they are not involved in
crime.

SHADOW CLUB

Origins: First noticed about five years ago as patched Hells Angels supporters, the
Shadow Club opened a new facility earlier this year.

Region: Active across Metro, they have a new clubhouse off King George Hwy. in Surrey.

LOST SOULS

Origins: First identified by police about a year ago in Prince George at the Renegades
clubhouse.

Region: Based in Ashcroft, where many Hells Angels members participate in drag races.