99% Angel; When Alberta bikers joined the Hells Angels, police believe the
change came with a lot of criminal baggage. The bikers say: Prove it;

CHASING ANGELS

They're roughnecks, mechanics and menders of motorcycle frames. And while
the labels on their back have changed, Alberta's newly minted Hells Angels
insist their hearts and minds remain the same.

It's a message the former Grim Reapers and Rebels have repeated often since
the day one year ago when they discarded their old vest patches and joined
the world's most notorious motorcycle club.

Law enforcement agencies across the country instantly branded them members
of a criminal organization, but they say they're nothing more than regular
folk who enjoy riding motorcycles.

"When the Royal Bank and the Bank of Montreal merge and come up with a
different name, will they be a new bank?" shrugged Gerry Weldon, a member
of the Angels' Edmonton chapter, in a recent interview. "No, they'll be the
same people with the same ridiculous interest rates and service charges.

"Just because you've changed your name doesn't mean you've changed as a
human being."

Such responses have been a constant source of irritation to the province's
police services. They are equally adamant that 30 Alberta bikers joined a
powerful league of criminals when they donned Angel colours last July 23 at
a ceremony in Red Deer.

That none of the Edmonton-area Angels has served federal prison time in the
last 20 years has admittedly undercut their anti-biker message -- the
Angels have actually dared police to pin serious convictions on them.

That may change soon enough. Police can now point to drug trafficking and
tax evasion charges laid since last fall against some former Rebels,
members of an Edmonton-based motorcycle gang who became probationary Angels
one year ago.

In addition, a high-ranking officer of the Hells Angels Edmonton chapter is
facing assault, extortion and weapons charges related to the May 23 beating
of a man police say reneged on a debt.

More such cases could significantly alter the lives of the 11 men belonging
to the Edmonton chapter of the Hells Angels, most of whom have skirted the
public spotlight to date.

As it is, they scarcely stand out when not wearing their colours or riding
their bikes. One owns a local trucking firm. Two have motorcycle accessory
shops in the city, while another sells oilfield equipment in southern
Alberta. Almost all have wives or long-time girlfriends and several have
children.

Weldon, for one, ran a shop in Red Deer that made "after-market"
Harley-Davidson frames, but says he's unloaded his stake in the business.

Before that, he obtained a journalism diploma from Grant MacEwan Community
College and worked about six weeks on community newspapers in central
Alberta.

Asked whether there are connections between escort agencies and his new
club, Weldon gave a pained look and shook his head.

"No," he said.

Hydroponic marijuana operations? Methamphetamine labs?

"No. I recycle motorcycle frames. I went to school, I got out and now I
build motorcycle frames. I can't answer for what everybody in the world
does ... but if police know all this about us, why aren't they putting all
the Hells Angels in jail?"

Others who knew the bikers before the patchover speak of a dark shift in
their personalities since they became Angels.

"The guys I used to deal with as Rebels have turned cold," said one
Edmonton man, whose business runs on a line of credit from the former
Rebels, now the Angels. "They've got an attitude, saying this is the way
things have to be done. But they have to reinvent themselves or they're
dead. Once you're in with these guys, you're in for good.

As for their legally incorporated businesses, Edmonton police Chief John
Lindsay warns that biker-owned firms in other parts of Canada and the U.S.
have been identified as money-laundering operations and shut down.

"When they money launder by running a legitimate business which can operate
at a loss, then they are undercutting the ability of competitors to compete
with them.

"If they're a dry cleaner, then they're in very unfair competition with the
dry cleaner down the block."

But Lindsay acknowledges the challenge for police will be to back their
warnings by pinning serious convictions to full-fledged Hells Angels
members in Alberta.

They'll have a better chance of doing so with organized crime-fighting
teams now assembled at both ends of the province and more money expected
from the government, he says.

"It's all about resources and organization. These investigations are
incredibly lengthy, incredibly resource-rich and very specialized."

CHASING ANGELS

* The provincial government earmarked $500,000 last July to fight outlaw
bikers, but Premier Ralph Klein said at the time additional funding would
have to come from existing police grants.

Critics and police said it was not enough.

* Last March, the province struck a three-person committee to lay out an
anti-biker action plan. It included representatives from the Alberta
Association of Chiefs of Police, the justice department and the Criminal
Intelligence Service of Alberta.

* The committee completed its report June 23 and sent it on to Justice
Minister Jon Havelock for approval. It hasn't been released, but insiders
say it recommends a major injection of cash and officers.

Checked-by: (Joel W. Johnson)