REPUTED BIKER BOSS BUSTED

Local News - Alain Brunette, the 38-year-old reputed national head of the
Bandidos biker gang, was arrested in Kingston yesterday morning when a
police task force kicked in the door of his Canatara Court apartment.

The 6 a.m. raid involved Kingston Police, the city force's tactical unit,
as well as Montreal Police and the provincial Biker Enforcement Unit.

Brunette was arrested without incident and was to be be transported to
Montreal to face charges there. Police say they also seized a weapon in the
raid.

Quebec police initiated the investigation and met with Kingston Police on
Tuesday afternoon to co-ordinate the raid on the address just off Bath Road
in Henderson Place.

The Bandidos, previously called the Rock Machine, are rivals of the
Quebec-based Hells Angels.

Brunette was the victim of a murder attempt on a Quebec highway last year,
a shooting that has been linked to imprisoned Hells Angel boss Maurice
(Mom) Boucher.

Yesterday's raid in Kingston was one of a series of sweeps across Ontario
and Quebec that targeted about 60 members and sympathizers of the gang,
Montreal Police Cmdr. Andre Durocher told The Whig-Standard.

Brunette was arrested on an outstanding warrant from Quebec, Durocher said,
but he did not know what charges Brunette faced, or what weapon was seized.
"There were 62 warrants and a number of searches done today so we are still
compiling the information at present," he said.

Durocher said about 30 searches were carried out as police looked for
computers, weapons and drugs.

A total of 27 people were arrested and one Quebec biker was shot in the
chest and face by police officers.

Among items seized in the raids were hundreds of kilos of hashish, several
kilos of cocaine and a number of firearms and silencers. Police are
expected to give a full account today.

Quebec Public Security Minister Normand Jutras said 300 officers from two
provinces were involved in the operation, which is part of a continuing
battle against criminal biker gangs.

"In the last year, three large operations have been held," Jutras said.
"The battle goes on day by day."

Durocher added that Brunette's place in the Bandidos murky hierarchy was
not entirely clear, but he was near the top of the organization if he did
not actually head it.

"Whether he is the president depends on who you talk to, but he certainly
is an influential member."

The raid was the latest police move against the Bandidos, who find Kingston
an attractive base because the city is close to Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto
and the American border.

The Bandidos have been locked in a bloody eight-year turf war with the
Hells Angels in Quebec for control of the drug trade. About 170 people have
been killed, and last year, Brunette almost became one of the fatalities.

On Feb. 13, 2001, he was shot in the chest by someone in another car as he
drove on a highway north of Montreal with another biker, who was not hurt.
The car that fired on Brunette was found burned about 20 kilometres from
the shooting site, a biker trademark.

Days after the attack, four members of the Nomads, an elite chapter of the
Hells Angels, were arrested at a Montreal hotel where they were found to be
carrying weapons and photographs of a number of Hells enemies, including
Brunette.

The shooting came during a string of tit-for-tat biker killings in Quebec
last year. Police said at the time Brunette was targeted because the
Kingston chapter was the sole remaining Bandidos outpost in Ontario. The
gang had closed its other clubhouses after seeing mass defections to the
rival Hells.

Kingston Police take the threat of gangs seriously and have been dealing
with them for decades. The Satan's Choice, Outlaws and Quebec-based Rock
Machine gangs have all set up clubhouses or chapters here.

The Rock Machine's Kingston chapter was disrupted by police in 1997 after
an 18-month investigation that saw eight members charged with various offences.

With a file from The Canadian Press