CRACK TRADE EXPLODING IN KENORA

Police Say Hells Angels Behind Alarming Rise In Seizures In Area

SEIZURES of crack cocaine in northwestern Ontario are double what they were
at this time last year, and police fear those numbers could go up as
Winnipeg's Hells Angels carve up an area ripe for drug distribution.

"The Hells Angels play a significant role in the distribution of drugs in
that part of the country," said Det. Insp. Don Bell of Ontario's Provincial
Special Squad, a combined unit of police agencies fighting organized crime.

Det. Staff Sgt. John Horne said so far police have taken 1.5 kilos of crack
off the street, mostly in the Kenora area. That's double what they seized
in 2000.

At the same time, officers have charged more than 500 people this year with
drug and related offenses. In 2000, they charged 490 people.

Horne said the influence of the Winnipeg chapter of the Hells Angels is
well-entrenched in the Kenora area -- a high ranking member used to live
there. That goes back several years when current members of the Hells
Angels were Los Brovos.

"Kenora is only two hours away from Winnipeg," Horne said. "We do see the
influence of Hells Angels from Winnipeg in Kenora."

At the same time, Hells Angels in Thunder Bay also participate in
distributing drugs; crack, cocaine, marijuana, hash, and cannabis resin.

Canadian chapters of the Hells Angels -- there are 12 bikers in the
Winnipeg chapter -- descended on Kenora last July for a summer
get-together. The police presence was intense, but the bikers, for the most
part, behaved themselves.

Police say that although sparsely populated, the vast area and its many
isolated communities are extremely profitable for drug dealers. People are
willing to pay more for drugs, especially if they live in places accessible
only by air.

A gram of marijuana costs as much as $80 for a user in an isolated
community, nearly twice as much what the same gram would fetch a dealer in
Winnipeg.

Horne said besides street seizures, finding crack hidden in peoples' mouths
or body orifices, police have also found drugs hidden in woodlots for pick
up and stashed in boxes of Girl Guide cookies or packs of ground beef
destined to be flown into northern communities.

Senior Const. Jeff Wiebe of the Kenora Police Service said officers are
seeing more crack use in the Ontario border town since the early summer.

"Crack doesn't know any demographic lines," he said. "All kinds of young
people are using it."

Wiebe said as a result of increased use, Kenora police are seeing a related
increase in the number of other crimes; break-and-enters, theft,
prostitution, and passing bad cheques, all committed by addicted users
trying to buy their next hit.

Horne said illegal drug use, including crack, has also wormed its way into
first nation communities.

"It doesn't know any culture," he said. "People from all cultures are using
it."

Horne also said police are finding dealers are getting craftier.

For example, police are seeing more drug houses when dealers push narcotics
out of a trap door, or they're renting motel rooms to do deals.

He said a dealer will get a shipment in and sell it to others out of motel
room. By the time police get a warrant, everything is sold and a search is
pointless.

The Provincial Special Squad in northwest Ontario is made up of officers
from Dryden, Kenora, Atikokan, Thunder Bay, Ontario Provincial Police and RCMP.

Bell said there are 14 Hells Angels chapters in Ontario, along with one
prospect Hells Angels club, nine chapters of the Outlaws, one Vagabond
chapter, two chapters of the Red Devils, two probationary Bandidos chapters
and one chapter of the Paradice Riders. As well, there are 16 associate or
puppet clubs or street gangs working for the bikers.