POLICE HURT BANDIDOS

Seize Crack Cocaine, Procaine, $45,000 Cash From Alleged Gang Member

CITY police believe they made their biggest hit yet against the
fledgling Bandidos outlaw motorcycle gang when officers seized 25
ounces of crack cocaine and $45,000 cash from a suspected low-level
gang member last week.

Police put the drugs and cash on display yesterday along with a
digital money counter, two 50,000-volt stun guns and a Glock
40-calibre semi-automatic handgun.

But the most prominent item on display was 13.5 kilos of procaine, a
dental anesthetic used by drug dealers to cut cocaine.

"It's not illegal to possess it," Det.-Sgt. David Black said. "You
can get it off the Internet or from any pharmaceutical warehouse."
Black said drug dealers typically dilute cocaine with procaine to
increase volume and profit. Dealers also use cornstarch, sugar,
talcum powder, laxative or other drugs. Police have made several
seizures of procaine over the past year and believe it's being sold
on the street between drug dealers as it's become a desired
cocaine-cutting agent.

Black also said last Thursday's seizure of procaine is an indication
of how much cocaine was being processed by the alleged gang member,
believed to be a member of Los Montoneros (Wolf Pack), a puppet club
of the Bandidos.

"Obviously, the Bandidos are conducting business in our city," Black
said, gesturing to the stack of cash and baggies of crack cocaine.

"They're certainly becoming a little more bold flying their colours
in the city."

Black said the seizure was made in the 100 block of Governors Court
in northwest Winnipeg. A seven-year-old girl was in the home at the
time of the raid and appeared to have access to the crack cocaine.

"We're fairly confident she would've seen it," he said. The girl is
now in the custody of a grandmother.

Black also said the raid was one of three against organized crime
groups made that morning.

Justice sources said it was in one of the secondary raids police
found an internal list of Court of Queen's Bench and Court of Appeal
judges' names, home addresses and phone numbers. Police and the
provincial officials are investigating how that list was leaked and
are making no further comments on if it's connected to the Bandidos.

Glen Greico, 26, and Nicole Boulard, 23, of Winnipeg are charged with
possession of proceeds of crime, possession of cocaine for the
purpose of trafficking, manufacturing crack cocaine, unauthorized
possession of a restricted weapon and several other firearm-related charges.

Police said the Bandidos set up shop in the city over the past year,
recruiting members and creating Los Montoneros under the nose of
their rivals, the Hells Angels.

A source said the Hells Angels know who's in the Bandidos and are
divided on what the Bandidos incursion into the city's drug trade
means to them.

The attitude among some Hells Angels is one of ambivalence; a second
gang in the city splits limited police resources, meaning police have
less time to worry about the Hells Angels.

The Texas-based Bandidos are the second-largest biker gang in the
world next to the Hells Angels. In Canada it also has chapters in
Toronto and Montreal. A Bandidos chapter in Alberta switched to the
Hells Angels last year.

Police are not aware of how many people make up the Bandidos or Los
Montoneros in Winnipeg, but said some have been enlisted from
aboriginal street gangs.

Sources said the gang was headed up by a former East St. Paul police
recruit and is currently undergoing a leadership shakeup.