POLICE AGENT HAMMERS HELLS

Emerges From Witness Protection

Armed Officers Patrol Outside Court

WEARING a crisp dark suit and a broad smile, career
criminal-turned-police agent Franco Atanasovic emerged from witness
protection Monday to testify against one of the Hells Angels members
he double-crossed.

Atanasovic appeared calm and relaxed -- even cracking a few jokes
with the Crown -- during his much-anticipated first appearance on the
witness stand.

The scene outside court was much more tense, with a heavy presence of
gun-toting police officers in the Law Courts halls and a metal
detector set up outside the courtroom door.

Jurors witnessed the increased security on their way into court and
were told by Queen's Bench Justice John Scurfield to try and ignore
what they'd seen.

"It was hard to miss. But this is standard procedure for police to
provide high levels of security for people involved in this (witness
protection) program," Scurfield said just before testimony began in
the afternoon.

"However I have made some arrangements so that the security team is a
bit less intrusive in the future."

Scurfield told jurors not to read anything into the safety measures
or hold them against the man whose fate rests in their hands,
full-patch biker Ian Grant.

"Mr. Grant has not behaved inappropriately (during the trial). He is
entitled to be presumed innocent," said Scurfield.

Grant has pleaded not guilty to nine criminal charges including
extortion of Atanasovic, trafficking cocaine, proceeds of crime and
participating in a criminal organization.

Atanasovic began what is expected to be a full week of testimony by
detailing his background for jurors, which includes 24 separate
convictions for crimes including robbery, drug trafficking, forgery and fraud.

He was hired as an undercover agent in October 2004 -- for a salary
of $525,000 plus expenses -- following a few years of working as a
police informant.

The idea was to go after the Hells Angels and their associates in a
sophisticated way by arranging major drug buys with Atanasovic that
would be caught on audio and video surveillance.

Atanasovic said he was originally given seven targets by police,
although Grant wasn't one of them. But that changed in January 2005
when an old drug debt came into play.

Atanasovic said he was working his seasonal job of cleaning snow when
Grant pulled into the parking lot of a Portage Avenue car dealership
late one evening, put on his sunglasses and said they had "a problem."

"He told me I was making the club look bad," said Atanasovic.

The so-called problem was the perception that Atanasovic owed the
Hells Angels $60,000 from an ephedrine deal that had fallen through
years earlier.

Atanasovic told jurors he thought the issue had long been settled
based on conversations with his long-time friend and fellow
snow-clearing partner, Hells president Ernie Dew. Atanasovic had gone
to Dew in 2002 when three biker associates showed up at his son's
hockey practice, demanded the money be paid and even flashed a gun in
one of their waistbands.

Grant informed Atanasovic in early 2005 that the responsibility had
fallen on him to collect the debt -- which Atanasovic insists isn't even his.

Grant began demanding payment of the debt, and Atanasovic started
giving him smaller amounts of money that was being supplied by his
police handlers.

Jurors have already watched and listened to several of the meetings
between Grant and Atanasovic, which grew more heated as the weeks wore on.

Grant allegedly reached a boiling point when Atanasovic took a
vacation to Mexico in February 2005 and then returned to an angry
series of phone calls.

Grant told him to rob a gas bar or work out a drug deal with Dew.
Atanasovic said he did just that, buying a kilogram of cocaine and
then paying Grant $9,000 in what was purported to be drug proceeds.

But Grant still wasn't satisfied, said Atanasovic.

The two men finally came to an agreement in early April. Atanasovic
would obtain credit to buy a $21,000 Harley Davidson motorcycle and
$13,000 in parts, then give it to Grant to settle their score.