POLICE HAIL BIKER BUSTS

OPP Credit Full-Patch Hells Angel-Turned-Police Agent With Key Role In
Raids

Police officials are praising the co-operative efforts of an 18-month
investigation for the high-profile raids on Hells Angels clubhouses
across Canada yesterday.

At a press conference today detailing the raids, OPP Commissioner
Julian Fantino said he hopes the bike gang and organized crime have
received the message: "We're here to shut you down. You can't hide."

The Biker Enforcement Unit led the 18-month investigation, with 27
tactical teams involving over 400 officers. The raids have resulted in
a total of 31 arrests and the laying 169 charges related to drugs and
weapons.

The OPP are crediting a full-patch Hells Angel-turned-police agent
with playing a key role in the raids.

OPP Insp. Dan Redmond said he could not reveal much about the gang
member who assisted police, but indicated the man is now in the
witness relocation program and will be required to testify in court.

"Agents are actually directed by police to assist in the
investigation," Redmond said, noting agents are neither police
officers nor informants.

"We cannot protect their identity. They must come to court and swear
an oath."

Among those arrested was the gang's Toronto-based spokesman,
59-year-old Don Petersen, as well as two people from British Columbia
and one from New Brunswick.

"We've taken out the main chapter," said Redmond, who heads the biker
unit. "This is a significant day. We've proven there is drugs, weapons
and violence related to the Hells Angels."

There are 16 Hells Angels chapters in Ontario, with more than 200
full-patch members, reporters were told today. Arrested yesterday were
18 full-patch members.

Under new legislation, the Toronto clubhouse in the east end of the
city has also been seized.

The investigators revealed today that the raids, which were also made
in B.C. and New Brunswick, were sparked by the purchase of cocaine and
the date-rape drug GHB.

Officers seized nearly 500 litres of GHB, more than nine kilograms of
cocaine, and more than 80 weapons including rifles, shotguns, a police
baton and three sets of brass knuckles.

Police also seized close to $1 million in vehicles and property and
more than $500,000 in cash.

Drug-trafficking is the mainstay of the organization, Redmond
said.

"Hells Angels are criminals and are not welcome in Ontario," Redmond
told reporters.

Fantino said that a significant dent was put into organized crime, but
police realize the battle has not been won yet.

He said that organized crime is in "all of our pockets and infiltrates
all of society" from Internet luring to the drug trade.

The Hells Angels "have been around since the 1940s and we're not going
to stop pursuing them, added Richmond.

He admitted, however, that these raids haven't stopped the flow of
cocaine into Toronto.

The arrests follow a number of significant operations against biker
clubs by Ontario authorities over the past year. A series of
simultaneous raids launched by provincial police in September 2006 saw
500 officers involved in arresting 15 members of the Hells Angels.