How the Hells Angels maintain their influence without a chapter in cities like Thunder Bay
CBC
The Hells Angels outlaw motorcycle club may not have an active chapter in Thunder Bay, but their influence is still felt in the city, and region, the deputy director of the OPP's Provincial Biker Enforcement Unit says.
"Similar to other areas of the province, the Hells Angels have had presence," OPP Det. Insp. Scott Wade said. "They've been disrupted by police projects, investigations or just straight-out alternative disruption that affects their membership."
"Thunder Bay particularly has seen the flux of that membership, and membership has gone up and down," he said. "The chapter has been closed and opened. And right now, according to my intelligence and my information ... the Thunder Bay chapter is closed right now."
"But there are still members in the area who are influencing the Hells Angels in the area."
One major hit to the Canadian Hells Angels came in 2006, in an operation known as Project Husky. OPP, along with Thunder Bay police, the RCMP, Surete du Quebec, and Calgary police, worked together in a two-year long investigation that led to multiple arrests in Ontario, Quebec, and Alberta.
In Thunder Bay, police raided the Hells Angels clubhouse, and arrested four Hells Angels members, and some associates.
Overall, Project Husky also saw police seize more than $2.3 million in illicit drugs.
More recently, the Hells Angels had established a clubhouse on Simpson Street. However, that building was destroyed by fire in 2020.
Wade said while police continue enforcement efforts against outlaw biker gangs in Ontario, there been "exponential growth" in what he called support clubs across the province.
"Some clubs support the Hells Angels," he said. "That means they attend their events, they hang out with them."
"They're a friendly club or an associate club or a supporter club, whereas some of the more prominent clubs like the Iron Dragons Motorcycle Club, the Red Devils, they are support clubs directly linked to the Hells Angels, and they wear a support 81 patch on their best, which means they support the Hells Angels in an official capacity."
Wade said those clubs act as a network that the larger clubs, such as the Hells Angels, will utilize to "facilitate their criminal acts so they can remain in the shadows, they can remain out of the police eye, and the public eye, and have others conduct their criminal activity."
Wade said some clubs that associate with the Hells Angels are in Thunder Bay, and the surrounding area.
Kenneth Dowler, an associate professor at Wilfrid Laurier University — who teaches a course on biker gangs at the school's criminology department — said outlaw biker gangs try their best to keep a low profile when it comes to criminal activity including drugs, extortion, and human trafficking.
When Stephanie Gamble watched her mother model the first dress she made, smiling wide and walking an imaginary runway, she knew that was what she wanted to keep doing in her life.
'Tis the season for cuddling on the couch with a cup of hot chocolate and watching holiday movies. And for people in B.C.'s Interior, that can increasingly mean seeing their home communities on display.
Every year, snowy owls spread their wings and migrate down to the Prairies, where they enjoy access to plenty of rodent prey in vast open spaces.
This month has been a busy stretch at the Upper Room Food Bank in Charlottetown.
N.W.T. Education Minister Caitlin Cleveland says she has received the final report from an independent investigation into education bodies in the Dehcho region.
P.E.I.’s auditor general says he’s concerned and disappointed that the projected deficit has doubled what government initially estimated it would be — and he's urging the province to balance its budget.
A man found not criminally responsible for stabbing five people to death at a Calgary house party is getting more freedoms but not an absolute discharge.
A man has been found guilty of second-degree murder in the shooting death of a Toronto mother outside a supervised consumption site in Leslieville.
Russian olive trees — sometimes known as silver berry or oleaster — are small, ornamental plants with silvery leaves and black bark, and small yellow flowers and silver fruit that look like miniature olives. They’re pretty, but they’re a problem.
The Yukon Legislative Assembly’s fall sitting ended on Thursday after the territorial government introduced and passed a supplementary budget.
A Canadian military counter-intelligence operative, who stands accused of passing sensitive information to Ukraine, was involved in an investigation into allegations that a leading Canadian defence journalist was a longtime Russian asset.
An Alberta panel aimed at finding ways the province can strengthen its autonomy has offered up seven recommendations, including options for referendum topics.
People won't be able to travel along B.C.'s Highway 3 without significant delays and detours over the holiday season, says the Ministry of Transportation.