Manitoba the first in North America to declare Hells Angels a criminal organization
Hells Angels is more than just a club of motorcycle enthusiasts, according to the Province of Manitoba. According to a new ruling, it is a criminal organization.
The Province of Manitoba became the first jurisdiction in North America to declare the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club a criminal organization on Friday, declaring a new chapter in a war to rid the prairie province of organized crime.
“This is a milestone for Canada and a clear signal that Manitoba will continue to develop and use every tool available to fight criminal organizations and the threat they pose to Manitobans,” Justice Minister Andrew Swan said in a statement. “It is now law in Manitoba the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club is a criminal organization.”
According to the Manitoba ruling, the Hells Angels is the largest outlaw motorcycle gang in the world and has 5,000 members in more than 40 countries. There are 35 clubs, or chapters, operating in Canada, each with a minimum of six members on the street.
They use a sophisticated system of membership levels to protect themselves from investigation and maintain rules and communication levels to ensure uniformity between chapters across the country.
The Manitoba designation means that provincial criminal charges can be laid and tried more swiftly. Lawyers and courts were once required to determine in every trial that the group was a criminal enterprise, but that is now established at the outset.
Notice has been served to the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club in Winnipeg and they had an opportunity to object in writing. According to the province, they did not submit an objection.
[ Related: Two B.C. Hells Angels members sentenced to 15 years in prison for 2011 beating death ]
Outside of Manitoba, the Hells Angels maintain they are a simple motorcycle club – no more nefarious than a school's drama club or most of the countless book clubs across the country.
Indeed, the club has a boutique apparel shop in Toronto, a well-known headquarters in New York and a website where members can connect worldwide.
While the designation only goes as far as the provincial border, the campaign to secure the classification involved information gleaned from investigations and court rulings across Canada.
Most telling is a detailed analysis of the group offered by the province. In it, investigators detail the patch system the group uses to promote prospective members up the ranks, the structure and rules that connect chapters across the country and the significance of the patch and colours worn by gang members.
"Courts have noted the ‘power of the patch’ worn by the Hells Angels, since it has been used to intimidate and create fear from the public and gang rivals," the document notes. "As a result, some courts have declared items displaying these identifying colours to be forfeited as offence-related property."
Since 2004, there have been five major investigations in Manitoba focused on Hells Angels members and associates. More than 100 people were arrested in those investigations on charges varying from drug and firearm trafficking, money laundering, conspiracy to murder and violent crimes.
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MANITOBA’S SCHEDULE OF CRIMINAL ORGANIZATIONS:
PROFILE OF THE HELLS ANGELS MOTORCYCLE CLUB
The Hells Angels Motorcycle Club (Hells Angels or HAMC) is the largest outlaw motorcycle gang in the world, with over 5,000 members in over 400 chapters in more than 40 countries. Canada has 35 chapters. Hells Angels rules require chapters to have a minimum of six members on the street without any court-imposed conditions. Several Canadian chapters are inactive due to the majority of their members being incarcerated.
The following is a profile of the HAMC’s operations which identify it as a criminal organization.
Structure and rules
Evidence from numerous Canadian trials reveals the Hells Angels are highly structured to ensure conformity to their rules, prevent infiltration by rivals and police, and to maintain effective criminal operations. Courts have found that chapters are not independent entities but instead conform to rules and work collectively to meet the broader objectives of the HAMC.
Membership
Membership in the Hells Angels consists of:
full patch members,
prospects,
hang-arounds,
official friends, and
associates.
Full patch members seek to insulate themselves from police and rivals by using subordinate members and associate gangs to commit or facilitate crimes and protect HAMC assets. Membership is an incremental process over years to test a recruit's loyalty and prevent infiltration by police or rival gang members. Internal Hells Angels records show that photos and information about potential new members are distributed across the country to try to identify unwanted members.
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Colours
The colours of the Hells Angels are formed by the term ‘Hells Angels,’ the club’s death head logo (see attached photos) and red and white lettering. These items have been trademarked in numerous countries. Only a full patch member can wear the Hells Angels logo and vote on club issues and strategies. Courts have noted the ‘power of the patch’ worn by the Hells Angels, since it has been used to intimidate and create fear from the public and gang rivals. As a result, some courts have declared items displaying these identifying colours to be forfeited as offence-related property.
Clubhouses
Clubhouses are the base for each Hells Angels chapter. Courts have noted they are generally fortified and equipped with strong security measures. Courts have ordered Hells Angels clubhouses forfeited as instruments or proceeds of crime in Ontario (Toronto, Thunder Bay and Oshawa), Halifax and Quebec. Several other clubhouses, including one in Winnipeg, have been seized pending criminal property forfeiture applications. Manitoba and Saskatchewan have also used provincial laws to order the removal of fortifications from Hells Angels clubhouses as they are a public safety threat.
Intelligence gathering
Hells Angels and their associate groups have been found with counter-surveillance equipment designed to detect police listening devices, sensitive justice documents on gang rivals and information about police investigators.
Associates
The Hells Angels use subordinate criminal organizations to commit or facilitate crimes and advance their interests. This also helps to identify potential new members of the Hells Angels. For example, several members of one of the Manitoba Hells Angels’ support clubs, the Zig Zag Crew, have moved up to become full members. Gang wars in Quebec, Manitoba and Ontario have highlighted the roles played by these associate groups. Manitoba’s Zig Zag Crew and Redlined gangs have been convicted for drug and other crimes in support of the Hells Angels.
Criminal activities
Courts in Quebec, Ontario and Manitoba have found the Hells Angels to be a criminal organization in dozens of individual criminal prosecutions. Hells Angels have a long record of violence in Canada including the murder of two justice officials in Quebec in 1997, a gang war with the Rock Machine in Quebec that resulted in an estimated 150 murders over the course of a decade, and extensive drug trafficking and related crimes in Manitoba.
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Photos: The Hells Angels logo in photos seized by Manitoba’s Integrated Organized Crime Task Force as part of Project Defense and filed as an exhibit in R v Donovan.
MANITOBA’S SCHEDULE OF CRIMINAL ORGANIZATIONS:
PROJECTS TARGETING THE HAMC MANITOBA CHAPTER AND SUPPORT CLUBS
The Manitoba Integrated Organized Crime Task Force (MIOCTF) is an integrated partnership including investigators from the RCMP, Winnipeg Police Service, Brandon Police Service and federal and provincial prosecutors, backed up with resources from the province. Its role is to investigate crimes, criminal organizations and their associates.
Project
Date
Lead agency
Summary
Project Defence
Nov. 2004 to Feb. 2006
MIOCTF
MIOCTF’s first project led to the arrest of 13 people for cocaine and methamphetamine trafficking and related offences including three members of the HAMC Manitoba Chapter.
Project Drill
Nov. 2006 to Dec. 2007
MIOCTF
Targeted 18 people from Manitoba, Ontario, Alberta, British Columbia and the United States including HAMC members and associates.
All targets were arrested and subsequently convicted for offences related to drug trafficking, conspiracy to commit murder, importation of firearms, proceeds of crime and criminal organization related offences.
Project Divide
Nov. 2008 to Dec. 2009
MIOCTF
34 arrest warrants were issued which, when executed, encompassed every member of the Zig Zag Crew and three HAMC Manitoba Chapter Full Patch members.
Subsequent convictions for offences related to drug trafficking, weapons trafficking, criminal organization related offences, and violent offences.
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Project
Date
Lead agency
Summary
Projected Flatlined
May 2011 to March 2012
WPS
WPS project targeting the Redlined, an official ‘friend’ club under the direction of the HAMC Manitoba Chapter.
Search warrants were executed and 11 people were taken into custody on charges including trafficking narcotics, possession of proceeds of crime, laundering proceeds of crime and participation in a criminal organization. A total of 27 individuals were arrested including three HAMC Manitoba Chapter Full Patch members.
Subsequent convictions for offences related to drug trafficking and criminal organization related offences.
Project Dilemma*
Aug. 2012 to Jan. 2013
RCMP
A total of more than 70 years in prison was handed down between 11 individuals for offences related to drug trafficking, firearms trafficking, proceeds of crime and criminal organization related offences.
* As a result of the public feud between the Rock Machine Motorcycle Club and Redlined, Project Dilemma was initiated to focus on the criminal activities of the Rock Machine Motorcycle Club and high-level drug trafficking cells operating in Manitoba.
As part of the scheduling process, Manitoba Justice identified over 30 court cases from across the country where the Hells Angels were found by Canadian courts to be a criminal organization.