IT'S NEVER REALLY OVER

Criminals Will Regroup After Arrests, Police Say

Despite a flurry of arrests, the latest crackdown on Hells Angels
members and associates won't be the final chapter in the
back-and-forth saga between organized crime and law enforcement in
Manitoba.

Sources said the local Hells Angels chapter, which has several members
on the street, has lost a bit of insulation by having so many of its
underlings arrested but, like it has in past setbacks, will regroup.

Plenty of people are waiting in the wings or willing to align with the
outlaw motorcycle group to replace those swept up in a 13-month
investigation known as Project Divide, sources said.

One Hells Angels member has been arrested in the sting, which focused
on alleged drug trafficking and related activities revolving around
its so-called puppet club, the Zig Zag Crew. It's one of the largest
busts in Manitoba history.

While these groups won't go away, neither will police.

"It's not going to stop. Our goal is to continue to target these
individuals," said Winnipeg police spokesman Const. Jason
Michalyshen.

This is the third time in four years the Manitoba integrated organized
crime task force -- comprised of RCMP and Winnipeg and Brandon police
service members -- has targeted Hells Angels members or affiliates,
resulting in about 60 arrests and many convictions.

Police chalked up their success to collaboration between the agencies
and techniques.

In Project Divide, a source said, police paid a career criminal
hundreds of thousands of dollars to be an informant and infiltrate the
organizations.

The informant was known to some of those charged and trusted, the
source said.

Like in projects Defence and Drill before it, the informant was
involved in drug transactions and discussions, which were recorded on
video and audio. The informant is in the witness protection program
and has been relocated, the source said.

Meanwhile, police have named the latest suspects to be arrested,
bringing to 29 the number of people taken into custody. They are [name
redacted], 31, of Winnipeg, [name redacted], 28, of Surrey, B.C.,
and [name redacted], 29, of Burnaby, B.C.

Police also released photos of four of five people who've eluded
investigators so far -- Zig Zag Crew member [name redacted], 43, [name
redacted], 38, and [name redacted], 55, of Winnipeg, and Zig
Zag Crew prospect [name redacted], 25, of Selkirk.

Police said the fifth person is a Zig Zag Crew prospect who will be
arrested on a peace bond and won't face criminal charges, like two
others arrested in Wednesday's raids.