October 20, 2008
A resurgence in biker-linked crimes raises fears of another gang war in Quebec

Canadian Press
SOREL-TRACY, Que. - A string of biker-related crimes in the province in the past week are bringing back painful memories for Quebecers of the biker wars of the 1990s.

On Saturday night, a tanker truck slammed into the Hells Angels' bunker in the Quebec town of Sorel-Tracy, creating an inferno that gutted the building and led to the evacuation of nearby homes.

Firefighters were still on the scene of the wreckage Sunday evening.

Two other suspicious fires burned in the town the same night.

Last week, about 1,000 kilograms of explosives were reported stolen from a site in the St. Lawrence region.

On Oct. 17, 200 kilograms of explosives were found in a Montreal apartment a block away from Quebec provincial police headquarters.

The discovery came after three people were arrested and 1,000 kilograms of explosives were found in a van in Mont-Joli, about 350 kilometres northeast of Quebec City.

Police allege the three men arrested were involved in biker gangs.

"The Hells Angels are like a bad Hollywood slasher movie," said investigative journalist Julian Sher in an interview Sunday.

"The bad guys keep coming back for more."

Sher co-authored the book "Angel of Death," about the Hells Angels.

He said these events should serve as a wake-up call to police and the public.

Since the arrest and 2002 conviction of former Angels leader Maurice (Mom) Boucher in the shooting deaths of two Quebec prison guards and the mega-trials in a specially-built courthouse in Montreal that led to the conviction of 18 bikers on various charges, Sher said Quebecers have developed a false sense of security.

The turf war in the 90s between the Angels and the Rock Machine biker gangs caused numerous deaths including that of 11-year-old Daniel Desrochers, who was fatally injured by shrapnel as he was playing near a jeep that was blown up.

Sher noted the major police sweep in the province a few years ago took the Angels down but not out, and that membership in the biker gang has always remained stable.

The Angels still have a monopoly on the biker turf in Canada.

"To go up against the Hells Angels you have to have a lot of guts or a lot of stupidity," Sher said.

Saturday's "bold and brazen attack" on the bunker was a message to the entire Angels organization but it's too early to know who sent it, he said.

"We can't speculate or be alarmist. We can't say it's another biker war."

There were no injuries reported in any of the three fires over the weekend and the investigation by the Quebec provincial police is still in the early stages.

Police say they are looking into the possibility that the three suspicious fires are linked.

"We have three scenes to analyze," said provincial police spokeswoman Joyce Kemp.

"We're starting the investigative work and the investigation is ongoing."

According to Criminal Intelligence Service Canada, outlaw motorcycle gangs are involved in criminal activities like murder, drug trafficking, prostitution, illegal gambling, extortion, fraud, and theft.

The service notes the Angels are the most powerful biker gang in the country with 34 chapters nation-wide.

The three most influential biker gangs in Canada are the Angels, the Outlaws and the Bandidos.

A rival gang may have perpetrated the attack, said Sher, adding both the Bandidos and U.S.-based Mongols are rumoured to be trying to establish Canadian strongholds.

Whoever it was, Quebecers can expect a reprisal from the Angels, Sher said.

"They don't wait for the police to solve their problems. Sooner or later, where the Hells Angels are there's violence, blood, and danger."