News (Media Awareness Project) - Quebec: Police arrest 30 in Quebec biker gang raids |
| Title: | Quebec: Police arrest 30 in Quebec biker gang raids |
| Published On: | 1997-09-13 |
| Fetched On: | 2008-01-28 23:28:28 |
By Robert Melnbardis
MONTREAL, Sept 12 (Reuter) Police on Friday said they arrested 30
people in a series of raids of those suspected of having ties to
Quebecbased motorcycle gangs.
The operation involving 150 officers from the Royal Canadian Mounted
Police (RCMP) and Montreal police began on Thursday in Montreal and
surrounding areas.
The raids resulted from investigations of criminal organizations in
Montreal and people linked to outlaw motorcycle gangs, police said.
Expected charges include drug importation and trafficking,
counterfeiting, bribery of a federal public servant, fraud, the
smuggling of contraband alcohol and cigarettes and sale of bootleg
alcohol.
The Hell's Angels and Rock Machine motorcycle gangs have been locked in
a bloody battle for control of the Frenchspeaking province's lucrative
drug and contraband merchandise trade. More than 36 people, most linked
to the gangs, have been killed in bombings and shootings in Quebec in
the past three years.
The August 1995 car bomb death of an 11yearold boy galvanized public
outrage against the motorcycle gangs.
Police have mounted raids against motorcycle gangs in Quebec since the
federal government enacted a law in May giving police wider powers to
investigate and prosecute groups believed to be involved in criminal
activity.
The law, which some critics said could be vulnerable to a constitutional
challenge, also allows police to seize assets involved in the commission
of crimes by criminal gangs.
The latest arrests came amid rising tensions in Quebec's correctional
services after the murder on Monday of a prison guard. Pierre Rondeau
was gunned down in a hail of bullets in Montreal while driving an empty
prison bus.
Rondeau was the second prison guard killed in Quebec this summer. On
July 1, guard Diane Lavigne was shot to death on her way home from work.
No suspects have been arrested in either crime.
About 2,000 prison guards walked off the job in Quebec for 24 hours this
week to protest the slayings, which they said were part of an
intimidation campaign by Quebec's motorcycle gangs.
15:28 091297
MONTREAL, Sept 12 (Reuter) Police on Friday said they arrested 30
people in a series of raids of those suspected of having ties to
Quebecbased motorcycle gangs.
The operation involving 150 officers from the Royal Canadian Mounted
Police (RCMP) and Montreal police began on Thursday in Montreal and
surrounding areas.
The raids resulted from investigations of criminal organizations in
Montreal and people linked to outlaw motorcycle gangs, police said.
Expected charges include drug importation and trafficking,
counterfeiting, bribery of a federal public servant, fraud, the
smuggling of contraband alcohol and cigarettes and sale of bootleg
alcohol.
The Hell's Angels and Rock Machine motorcycle gangs have been locked in
a bloody battle for control of the Frenchspeaking province's lucrative
drug and contraband merchandise trade. More than 36 people, most linked
to the gangs, have been killed in bombings and shootings in Quebec in
the past three years.
The August 1995 car bomb death of an 11yearold boy galvanized public
outrage against the motorcycle gangs.
Police have mounted raids against motorcycle gangs in Quebec since the
federal government enacted a law in May giving police wider powers to
investigate and prosecute groups believed to be involved in criminal
activity.
The law, which some critics said could be vulnerable to a constitutional
challenge, also allows police to seize assets involved in the commission
of crimes by criminal gangs.
The latest arrests came amid rising tensions in Quebec's correctional
services after the murder on Monday of a prison guard. Pierre Rondeau
was gunned down in a hail of bullets in Montreal while driving an empty
prison bus.
Rondeau was the second prison guard killed in Quebec this summer. On
July 1, guard Diane Lavigne was shot to death on her way home from work.
No suspects have been arrested in either crime.
About 2,000 prison guards walked off the job in Quebec for 24 hours this
week to protest the slayings, which they said were part of an
intimidation campaign by Quebec's motorcycle gangs.
15:28 091297
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