CASH, NEW IDENTITY REWARDS FOR 'AGENT'

A career criminal who penetrated the Manitoba Hells Angels will earn
$350,000 and get a new identity for his work leading to last month's
arrests of three full-patch members and 10 associates, according to a
massive court document unsealed yesterday.

The middle-aged man -- who signed a contract with Manitoba Justice in
October 2004 to go undercover -- is considered the key witness in the
province's largest attack on organized crime so far.

All accused face a variety of drug, extortion and gangsterism charges
and have been directly indicted, meaning they won't have a preliminary
hearing. No trial dates have been set and all accused except one
remain in custody.

The 217-page court document, used to obtain search warrants in last
month's raids, doesn't name the informant, but simply refers to him as
the "agent."

During the investigation, he wore a "bodypack," a device that recorded
his dealings with the Hells Angels and their associates.

At the same time, a police surveillance team, members of the Manitoba
Integrated Organized Crime Task Force, videotaped his interactions
with the gang. Telephone wiretaps were also used.

The investigation started Oct. 18, 2004, with the agent signing an
agreement he'd get a cash payment up to a total of $350,000 and
receive a weekly maintenance payment of $350 a week during the
investigation.

The document says he is also eligible for relocation benefits provided
by the federal Witness Protection Program. The program is run by the
RCMP and also provides informants with a new identity.

In the space of a year, the agent made 18 drug buys involving crack
cocaine, powdered cocaine and methamphetamine. In total, $414,250 in
cash supplied by police changed hands.

As of last November, as the probe was winding up -- it was called
Project Defence -- the agent had received about $75,000 in awards and
expenses.

The deal is only one of a few in Canada. Police have defended similar
deals as the only way they can infiltrate organized crime groups.

For instance, in June 2004, a $2.2 million trial of five Hells Angels
associates charged with intimidation-related offences collapsed after
two years of prosecution. The botched criminal case was partially
blamed on the unreliability of police informant Robert Coquete, a
former gang member who received more than $100,000 for his
participation in the trial.

The most famous biker informant in Canada is Dany Kane, a Quebec Hells
Angels wannabe who informed on the gang to RCMP during the bloody gang
war of 1990s. Kane was paid thousands of dollars, but committed suicide.

The Manitoba agent is in protective custody and is expected to testify
against the three Hells Angels members. Trial dates are about a year
away.

However, the informant doesn't come without serious credibility
issues.

"The agent is a self-admitted drug trafficker with a long-standing
association to high-level figures within the criminal element in
Winnipeg," says the document, prepared by RCMP Cpl. Robert
Thorarinson.

"The agent has an extensive criminal record, including convictions for
crimes of dishonesty, drug trafficking, violence and weapons offences."

The offences go back to 1978 and include convictions for break and
enter, false pretences, forgery, robbery, possession of stolen
property, drug possession, possession of goods obtained by crime and
weapons offences.

Thorarinson says despite the agent's background, police gathered
enough other evidence to support the allegations.

The document also reveals the agent actually began working with the
RCMP in 2002, but as an informant in an investigation into Manitoba's
ephedrine trade. Ephedrine is the key ingredient in the production of
crystal methamphetamine.