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Thursday 29 December 2011

Two alleged associates of the Hells Angels have been charged after a police officer was put in a headlock and punched several times

Posted On 22:13 0 comments

Two alleged associates of the Hells Angels have been charged after a police officer was put in a headlock and punched several times in front of a Kelowna nightclub Tuesday.

Shortly after 2 a.m. two uniformed Kelowna RCMP members were on patrol when they saw a fight break out between several men on Leon Avenue. When they moved in to arrest the main aggressor, one of the officers was jumped from behind and attacked.

The officer who was punched ended up with swelling and bruising.

Kelowna RCMP spokeswoman Sgt. Ann Morrison was unable to say what caused the fight.

“I can confirm we are having difficulty receiving cooperation from the parties involved,” she said.

Kelowna’s Pedro Amestica, 39, was charged with assaulting a police officer and resisting arrest. He does not have a criminal record and police say he is a known associate of the Mission City chapter of the Hells Angels.

Thomas Volker, a 37-year-old from Mission, is charged with assaulting a police officer. He has a criminal record and police say he is a member of the Mission City Hells Angels.

Both men have appeared before a justice of the peace and have been released from custody. Their next court appearance is scheduled for Jan. 12 in Kelowna



Suspect in Juárez consulate killings extradited

Posted On 13:42 0 comments

 

An alleged prison gang member wanted in connection with the killing of a U.S. consulate employee, her husband and another employee's spouse has been extradited to the United States, Mexican authorities have announced. Joel Abraham Caudillo was handed over to FBI agents Dec. 20 in Veracruz at the same time that Julian “El Piolin” Zapata Espinoza, wanted in the February killing of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agent Jaime Zapata, was extradited. Mexican authorities announced Caudillo's extradition this week. He's one of 35 people charged in a drug conspiracy case that alleges that the Barrio Azteca prison gang, working with the Juárez Cartel, engaged in drug trafficking and murder on both sides of the Rio Grande. Officials say that gang members in Ciudad Juárez on March 13, 2010, killed U.S. consulate employee Leslie Ann Enriquez Catton; her husband, Arthur Redelf, an El Paso County jailer; and Jorge Alberto Salcido Ceniceros, the husband of a consulate employee. Caudillo is accused of destroying one of the vehicles used in Ceniceros' killing. Extraditions in the case have been done surreptitiously during holidays. Near Labor Day weekend in 2010, Jesus Ernesto “El Camello” Chávez Castillo, a suspect in the killings, was brought to San Antonio for a closed court hearing. Court records in his case remain sealed.


all is quiet on Calgary’s gang front.

Posted On 13:40 0 comments

 

With no killings between FOB and FK in nearly three years and the biggest case of them all — the 2009 triple murder at Bolsa Restaurant — resulting in at least two convictions, it would be tempting to assume all is quiet on Calgary’s gang front. That assumption would be wrong. As detailed in a recent article, no small amount of effort goes into monitoring the gang members who aren’t either dead or in jail to prevent any further violence. However, we live in a society that values quantifiable results: while it’s easy to tally the number of bad guys who have been arrested, the amount of drugs seized or illegal guns taken off the street, it’s much harder to measure how many murders police may have prevented. It has happened, however, and only continued pressure will keep the violence in check. But that’s not the only unfinished business for Calgary police: there are at least 20 homicides connected to the gang war which remain unsolved — investigations police have been able to devote more time to, thanks to the relatively low number of homicides recorded in Calgary during 2011. Prior to the Bolsa massacre, when innocent restaurant patron Keni Su’a was slaughtered trying to flee the eatery, it was common for Calgarians to be indifferent to the death toll as long as gangsters kept killing each other. Bolsa exposed the fundamental flaw in that indifference: allow criminals with little regard for human life to run loose and it’s only a matter of time before an innocent is hurt or killed. The public may not be clamouring for police to solve the murders of 20 people who were either gangsters or people who made the poor choice of hanging out with criminals, but Bolsa demonstrated why all Calgarians have a vested interest in getting their killers off the street. For homicide investigators, an unsolved case is a case that needs solving — no matter if the victim was a criminal himself. “We are looking at cold case homicides, and included in that is, of course, are all the organized crime ones,” Staff Sgt. Grant Miller of the homicide unit said recently. “We’re motivated to solve them.” We live in a country where the rule of law is supreme, and it dictates justice must be available to all — justice that’s meted out in a courtroom, not at the end of the barrel of a gun.


3 people wounded in drive-by shooting on Hudson

Posted On 13:35 0 comments

 

Three people are being treated at local hospitals after a drive-by shooting on Hudson Avenue this afternoon. According to Rochester police Capt. Peter Leach, officers responded to Hudson Avenue near Weeger Street at 4:20 p.m. for a report of people shot. Upon arrival, they found three people shot outside of a grocery store. Leach said the shots were fired by people driving by in a gray minivan. After the shootings, the minivan drove away on Weeger Street and struck another vehicle, at which point the van’s occupants got out and ran away. Leach said the victims were a 28-year-old Greece woman, a 23-year-old city man and a 25-year-old city man. All the victims’ injuries are believed to be non-life-threatening, he said. The woman is being treated at Strong Memorial Hospital; the men at Rochester General Hospital, he said. Police are searching for the suspects.


Wednesday 28 December 2011

FORTNIGHT OF DEADLY SHOOTINGS IN METRO VANCOUVER

Posted On 14:26 0 comments




• Thuy Yen Vu, 38, of Vancouver, was shot to death while sitting inside a BMW SUV parked in front of a home on the 6400-block Bruce Street in Vancouver at 3 p.m., Dec. 14.

• Bradley McPherson, 28, of Surrey, died after being shot at a house party on the 13100-block 67A Avenue in Surrey at 4 a.m. on Dec. 24.

• Alok Gupta, 27, of Surrey, died after being shot while working at Ken’s Groceries on the 11000-block 96th Avenue in Surrey at around 3 p.m. on Christmas Day, Dec. 25.

• A 38-year-old Langley man was found shot to death inside his Mercedes SUV parked in the driveway of a home on the 9100-block 207 Street in Langley at 9 p.m. on Boxing Day, Dec. 26.

• A man was shot to death on the 9500-block 125th Street in Surrey at around 9:30 a.m. on Dec. 27.


spate of four fatal shootings in four days, the head of Metro Vancouver's regional homicide unit insisted the shootings are completely unrelated and have nothing to do with gangs.

Posted On 14:24 0 comments

Tuesday after the Surrey area suffered a spate of four fatal shootings in four days, the head of Metro Vancouver's regional homicide unit insisted the shootings are completely unrelated and have nothing to do with gangs.


In a pouring rain Tuesday afternoon in Surrey Supt. Dan Malo, of the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team, told media that investigators have identified the two latest victims — a 20-something man found shot dead in the 9500-block 125th Street in Surrey at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday, and a 38-year-old Langley man found shot dead in Langley (near Surrey's border) on Boxing Day — but identities won't be released yet.


Tuesday's shooting appears to have been targeted, and investigators are interested in the time gap in which witnesses in a home said they heard shots, but then waited about 60 minutes to report seeing a man down near their home, Malo said.


Malo made the unusual step of meeting reporters to say that although police don't know much about the two latest shootings yet, they are sure gangs are not involved in any of the four shootings. Malo said police want to relieve public fears that this could be a return to the bloody string of retaliation gang shootings seen in 2009.


"This is a big event — you know the community a couple of years ago went through this with a big spike in gang violence, but this isn't what we are talking about," Malo said. "We are talking about four events that are absolutely unrelated. They just happened to happen in a four-day period."


Malo said IHIT is working closely with the Surrey and Langley RCMP detachments to make sure the homicide unit can handle this unusual load of files, happening at an unlikely time.


The holiday shooting spree started in Surrey, one day before Christmas.


Bradley McPherson, 28, of Surrey, died after being shot at a house party in Surrey on Dec. 24. Alok Gupta, 27, of Surrey — an "innocent victim" completely unknown to police according to Malo — died after being shot while working at Ken’s Groceries on the 11000-block 96th Avenue on Christmas Day.


Malo said some of the victims and associates connected to the four Christmastime shootings may be known to police, but stressed again, that does not mean the shootings are related to gangs.


On Tuesday the 9500-block 125th Street was in shock, with neighbours standing in the street or in their yards shaking their heads.


Leticia M. said she heard four shots around 7 a.m.


“We come from L.A. and we know what shots sound like,” she said. “Everyone is shocked. My daughter is scared. We’re like ‘Holy smokes, where is everyone getting these guns?'”


“This is unbelievable,” said Teresa Laursen. Pointing to the road where forensics investigators were standing inspecting the ground near where the dead man was found, she said: “My little boy plays street hockey there all the time. All the homes on this street are full of kids.”

“It’s brutal,” said another neighbour, Sherry McLellan. “Not a very nice Christmas for that guy.”

Dave Bernard, who has lived on the street for 20 years, said he’s never seen violence like this.

Neighbours mentioned the Christmas Day shooting that left a 27-year-old clerk dead about five minutes away at Ken’s Grocery, adding there is a feeling that violence in Surrey is mounting.

Surrey RCMP Staff Sgt. Bruce Anderson said the man in his 20s was found dead just after 8:30 a.m. on Tuesday when police responded to a call of a male lying in the road. The caller mentioned hearing what could have been gunshots at about 7:30 a.m. that morning.

The white male was found at the edge of a residential property near the roadway and some bushes, Anderson said.


There were 38 homicides investigated by IHIT in the region in 2010, Malo said, with 31 so far in 2011, including six gang-related homicides.


Killer gang battle amid sales rush

Posted On 14:20 0 comments

London police are investigating the fatal stabbing of a man during post-Christmas sales on one of the world's most famous shopping streets in an incident that has renewed fears about gang violence.

Officers arrested 11 people after the 18-year-old man was knifed to death on the British capital's Oxford Street. And three people were detained after a second but non-fatal stabbing nearby hours later.

The murder happened after a fight between groups of youths at a Foot Locker store in front of thousands of shoppers flocking to December 26 sales.

The area was cordoned off for hours after the incident and police found a number of weapons.


"This all happened outside Foot Locker and inside the Foot Locker store," senior Scotland Yard detective John Sweeney said yesterday. "There were several people who witnessed this event ... and a number of them recorded it on cameraphones. We are particularly interested in those people coming forward to let us have access to footage."

The dead youth was named by a friend as Seydou Diarrassouba from Mitcham, a tough area in south London.

Video footage on YouTube showed police holding back angry youths at the Foot Locker store as paramedics tried to revive the victim.

Police also confirmed that an officer had used a Taser stun gun during the confrontation.

In a second stabbing under six hours later and a few hundred yards away, a 21-year-old victim suffered leg wounds.

Police said shoppers should not feel unsafe and that they already had a large number of officers in the area around Oxford Street, which is said to be Europe's busiest shopping street.

It is home to more than 300 shops including Selfridges department store, and attracts tens of thousands of shoppers seeking bargains after Christmas.

But the violence has revived memories of deadly riots that rocked London and other English cities in August, when groups of masked youths looted and burned shops and five people were killed.

British authorities blamed street gangs for much of the violence, and Prime Minister David Cameron enlisted a US street crime expert to help find a solution.

Commentators said the Oxford Street death symbolized a national problem.

"The murder at the sales is a perfect snapshot of UK 2011 - casual slaughter, grotesque materialism and boys who do not know how to be men," novelist Tony Parsons wrote on Twitter.


Friday 23 December 2011

Feuding street gangs may be responsible for an early Sunday shooting in a suburban Montreal strip club that left four people injured,

Posted On 20:03 0 comments

Feuding street gangs may be responsible for an early Sunday shooting in a suburban Montreal strip club that left four people injured, police said.

"There are certain elements found at the scene that is making us believe this may be a street gang conflict between two rival groups," Laval police Constable Frank Di Genova said.

"It's not confirmed 100 percent, but it seems to lean that way."

All four victims -- three men who suffered gunshot wounds and a woman hit by flying glass -- were expected to recover, said police, who had made three arrests. No names had been released.

The Canadian Broadcasting Corp. reported there were about 150 people inside and outside the bar when the shooting broke out about 2 a..m.


latest decapitation appeared to be related to an ongoing power struggle within the gang, which has been at war for years with the police and another group, the One Order gang

Posted On 19:46 0 comments

Jamaican investigators on Wednesday found the severed head and bullet-riddled body of a man they believe was a high-ranking member of a notorious drug-and-extortion gang known for beheading victims.

A police statement said the bloody head was found Wednesday along a commercial strip in Spanish Town, a southern city where violent gangs are deeply entrenched and authorities impose frequent curfews.

The head, which investigators say matches Navardo Hodges of the Clansman gang, had a bullet wound in the middle of the forehead, common of gangland executions in the troubled area. A headless body with gunshot wounds was found splayed on a nearby street.

Detectives suspect the twenty-something Hodges was butchered in revenge for killing the sister of Chan Tesha Miller, the reputed Clansman leader who was sentenced in April to 15 years in prison after being convicted of robbery, assault and weapons possession.

Miller's arrest set off protests in Spanish Town, where the Clansman have long had a powerful presence.

Authorities said the latest decapitation appeared to be related to an ongoing power struggle within the gang, which has been at war for years with the police and another group, the One Order gang. Over the past year, the Jamaican government's offensive against crime has created power vacuums within the Clansman.

Police had linked Hodges to a dozen slayings and offered a reward of nearly $6,000 for information leading to his capture.

In mid-July, a churchgoing mother and daughter were beheaded by attackers who invaded their home in the Spanish Town area, near where a wanted 18-year-old Clansman member was found with his head chopped off.

To avenge a death, Jamaican gangs sometimes will murder someone who lives in a neighborhood controlled by perceived enemies, and not specifically target a member of a rival gang.


Saturday 17 December 2011

machine gun toting bobbies descended upon Sherk and forcefully removed him from the car, which they believed to be loaded with illegal firearms

Posted On 00:01 0 comments

Oh, those wacky Brits. It appears that, while touring the UK as part of a MMA seminar tour, former UFC lightweight champion Sean Sherk was accidentally pegged in connection with a well known crime boss (our guess would be Salvatore Riina) when the vehicle he was riding in was stopped at a roadblock.

After a small misunderstanding, machine gun toting bobbies descended upon Sherk and forcefully removed him from the car, which they believed to be loaded with illegal firearms. Fighters Only has the exclusive:

As he was being ferried into the area, the car he was travelling in was stopped by a roadblock and armed police swooped on the vehicle. Police had the vehicle on their database as being linked to a local man who they believe to be a key gangland figure.

Sherk thought the car was being subjected to a routine stop until it turned out to involve several carloads of police officers carrying automatic weapons, including Hechler and Koch MP5 machine guns – the UK police do not normally carry guns.

Having remained sat in his passenger seat because he had not understood an instruction to exit the vehicle, Sherk was dragged out by tense officers. They cuffed his hands behind his back and pulled him away where he was none too gently searched before being dumped on the floor.

After finding no such weaponry in Sherk’s car, “The Muscle Shark” was sent on his way with nothing more than a hell of a foreign relations story to tweet to his army of xenophobic followers.

The report also states that Sherk took the British blunder in “good spirits” but made note that “despite the widespread ‘village constable’ reputation that UK police have – the officers were much more aggressive and heavy-handed than what he has ever experienced in the US.” Apparently he doesn’t follow the news that closely.


Monday 12 December 2011

AN underworld bikie war is on the brink of erupting at Helensvale after shots were fired into a Hells Angels gym

Posted On 16:34 0 comments

AN underworld bikie war is on the brink of erupting at Helensvale after shots were fired into a Hells Angels gym that sits in Finks heartland.

Senior police figures fear a volley of up to a dozen shots fired in the early hours of yesterday morning could be a "get out'' warning as the Finks move to reclaim their territory.

The Finks' run of the northern corridor of the Gold Coast has been under threat from the rival gang, which is said to be pushing to expand its territory from its Browns Plains base.

Police say senior Sydney figures from the Hells Angels are behind the rapid expansion.

Task Force Hydra, set up to fight outlaw motorcycle gangs in Queensland, and the Serious Violent Crime Squad will head an investigation into the attack on the Helensvale First Choice Fitness Centre.

The gym is believed to be owned by a patched member of the Hells Angels who arrived at the premises about 5am to find it riddled with bullets.

The offenders have not been caught.

Company searches reveal the gym is owned by Peter Sidirourgos who was arrested over drug charges in NSW in 2000 alongside senior members of the Bandidos motorcycle gang.


Friday 9 December 2011

Ban on motorcyclists from riding with passengers in a bid to curb a spate of drive-by killings.

Posted On 14:44 0 comments

Honduran Congress has voted to ban motorcyclists from riding with passengers in a bid to curb a spate of drive-by killings.

The move follows two high-profile murders this week, both blamed on gunmen on motorbikes.

Congress also approved a wiretapping law proposed as part of efforts to tackle crime but which has raised privacy concerns.

Honduras has the world's highest murder rate: 82 per 100,000 people a year.

During a session held in private because of security fears, legislators approved a decree limiting the number of people allowed on a motorbike to just one.

The measure, which will last for six months, was requested by President Porfirio Lobo, whose government is facing rising crime.

"We know it is going to affect a certain part of the population," congressman Erick Rodriguez was quoted as saying by El Heraldo newspaper.

But the country had to take steps against hired killers, he said.
Soldiers on patrol

Motorcycles have been used in several high-profile murders.

The army has been brought in to boost policing

Journalist Luz Marina Paz and her driver were shot dead on Tuesday as they drove through the capital, Tegucigalpa.

The following day men on motorcycles killed former government security adviser Alfredo Landaverde in his car.

Honduras is a key transit country for cocaine smuggled from South America and on to the US market.

Increasing encroachment by Mexican drug cartels, as well as the presence of violent street gangs, have increased insecurity in the country.

In November, the Honduran authorities began deploying troops to carry out policing duties.

The police force itself is undergoing a purge amid efforts to root out officers with links to organised crime.


TERROR returned to Spanish Town yesterday after gunmen, suspected to be members of the feared Klansman gang, attacked a police patrol

Posted On 12:50 0 comments

TERROR returned to Spanish Town yesterday after gunmen, suspected to be members of the feared Klansman gang, attacked a police patrol, sparking a four-hour gun battle which, at one point, was fought close to St Jago High School where classes were in session.

The incident traumatised students who were eventually escorted safely off the premises by the police.

 St Jago High students walk away from the school compound yesterday after a four-hour firefight between gunmen and police ended. The incident traumatised students and teachers as it occurred during class hours. 


Last night, as the security forces maintained a strong presence in the affected areas, the police reported that they found an AK 47 rifle in the aftermath of the firefight, which started about 12:30 pm and sent persons in the normally bustling town running for cover.

"It was like a scene from a movie," said a member of the police team that eventually repelled the attacks of the heavily armed gunmen.

The Observer was told that the police were patrolling an area known to be controlled by the Klansman gang when they came under fire. The police responded, but were subjected to further attacks from gunmen in Rivoli, Ravensworth and areas near the Rio Cobre.

During the fighting, the gunmen attempted to run onto the premises of St Jago High but were prevented from doing so.

At Monk Street, in the vicinity of the school, parents whose children were late in returning from classes panicked. One woman wept as she anxiously waited with her hands on her head.

"I want to see my son. Where is my son?," she asked no one in particular. "School has ended and I do not know what is happening."

As shots continued to be fired, police and soldiers took up strategic positions in the area as they scoured the community in search of the attackers. But their action infuriated some residents who accused the security forces of abuse. Others hurled accusations of political victimisation against them.

"There was no shootout in the community," one man claimed. "The police dem just trying to make the area look bad because is an area that supports the People's National Party."

Yesterday, Prime Minister Andrew Holness, who is also the education minister, issued a strong condemnation of the shooting, noting that it could have spilled onto the school compound.

He said he was quite disturbed to learn that an educational institution could be placed in such grave danger by virtue of marauding criminals using the school compound to evade the police.

Holness said that the education ministry's counselling team will be at the school this morning at 7:00 to provide general and individual support for the teachers and students who were traumatised by the ordeal.

He also said that the police commissioner has been instructed to provide additional security within the area to ensure that the school will return to normalcy and that no more school days will be lost for the term.

Yesterday, as well, the Opposition spokesman on national security Peter Bunting expressed concern about the violence.

Bunting encouraged residents and business operators in the area to remain calm as the security forces carry out their duties to bring the situation under control. He expressed concern on behalf of the People's National Party that incidents of gun violence continue to traumatise young children and disrupt schools as well as the normal flow of business.


Friday 2 December 2011

Rich Egyptians weigh emigration as Islamists surge

Posted On 13:21 0 comments

 

For decades, Egypt's Westernised elite kept the country's growing religosity at arm's length, but a projected Islamist surge in the first post-revolution polls has driven many to think of moving abroad. Sporting the latest fashions and mingling in upmarket country clubs, Egypt's rich fear a victory for the Muslim Brotherhood and hardline Salafis in the first phase of parliamentary elections presages change ahead. "I hope they don't impose the veil and ban women from driving like in Saudi Arabia," said coquettish fifty-something Naglaa Fahmi from her gym in the leafy neighbourhood of Zamalek. In a nearby luxury hotel, Nardine -- one of Egypt's eight million Coptic Christians who are alarmed by the prospect of a new Islamist-dominated parliament -- is pondering a move aroad. "My father is seriously thinking about sending me and my brothers elsewhere because he thinks we won't have a future in the country with the Salafis," said the banker in her twenties. Ten months after a popular uprising ended the 30-year autocratic rule of Hosni Mubarak, millions of Egyptians embraced their new democratic freedoms earlier this week at the start of multi-stage parliamentary elections. The preliminary results to be published on Friday were expected to show the moderate Muslim Brotherhood as the dominant force, but with a surprisingly strong showing from the hardline Al-Nur party. Its leaders advocate the fundamentalist brand of Salafi Islam, rejecting Western culture and favouring strict segregation of the sexes and the veiling of women. They say they have been the victims of Islamophobia and sustained fear-mongering by liberals in the Egyptian media. Nevertheless, the fear that they will try to impose their values on the rest of society has driven Angie to consider leaving her comfortable Cairo life behind. "My husband recently got a job offer in Dubai. In the beginning I was hesitant, but now, with all that's happening, I'm encouraging him to take the job and I'll join him with our daughter," she said. "The Gulf has become more liberal than Egypt," she told AFP. For Ahmed Gabri, having the Islamists in power means having his freedoms restricted. "I will leave the country," said Gabri, a Muslim. "I will not stand living in a puritanical climate. Why don't they just let people live the way they want?" The next parliament will be charged with writing a new constitution and the idea of an Islamist-dominated assembly has sent shockwaves through some segments of society. Many stress the difference, however, between the different Islamist groups. "They don't scare me. We have democracy now which means we'll be able to remove them if they don't suit us," said Manar, a tall blonde in her 40s. "It's the not the Muslim Brotherhood that worries me because they want to appear in the best light, it's the Salafis that I'm concerned about," she said. Iman Ragab, a shop assistant, has resigned herself to the election's likely outcome. "This is democracy, you have to accept the results of the ballot," she said.


confrontation was between members of the outlaw Gypsy Jokers and Comancheros motorcycle gangs

Posted On 13:07 0 comments

 

A confrontation between rival bikie gangs saw 12 members ejected from the Danny Green fight in Perth. West Australian Police Commissioner Karl O'Callaghan confirmed on Thursday two gang members were arrested, with one charged with assaulting a public officer. They were led out of Challenge Stadium by members of the Gang Crime Squad during the cruiserweight bout between Green and Poland's Krzysztof Wlodarczyk on Wednesday night. It is believed the initial confrontation was between members of the outlaw Gypsy Jokers and Comancheros motorcycle gangs. "It's not an unusual occurrence at these sorts of events - it is one reason why we have such a large security response," Mr O'Callaghan said.


Hells Angel pleads not guilty in NV casino killing

Posted On 13:01 0 comments

 

California member of the Hells Angels has pleaded not guilty to a charge of second-degree murder for his role in a September brawl at Nevada casino that erupted into a shootout that claimed the life of his San Jose chapter president. Cesar Villagrana of Gilroy, Calif., is accused of shooting two members of the rival Vagos motorcycle gang the night that his longtime friend Jeffrey "Jethro" Pettigrew was shot to death on the floor of John Ascuaga's Nugget in Sparks. Washoe District Judge Connie Steinheimer on Thursday tentatively assigned him the same Jan. 17 trial date she earlier set for the Vagos accused of killing Pettigrew - Ernesto Gonzalez of San Francisco. But Villagrana's lawyer, Richard Schonfeld of Las Vegas, doesn't expect a trial before the end of 2012.


former full-patch member of the Hells Angels who was the bike gang's treasurer and top man in the Toronto area is in a fight to avoid deportation to Scotland.

Posted On 12:51 0 comments

 

Mark Alistair Stables, who has no criminal record and has been living here for more than 40 years, was found inadmissible to Canada by an Immigration and Refugee Board for being a member of a criminal organization, the Hells Angels.

He appealed the decision to the Federal Court of Canada, and two weeks ago that court ruled Ottawa can make plans to deport Stables even though he doesn't have a criminal record.

The nine-year "full patch" member was a former Sergeant at Arms and president of the Hells Angels Ontario Corp., in which he acted as a treasurer for 10 chapters for seven years.

"He was very involved in many aspects of the Hells Angels activities," Judge Yves de Montigny said in his decision. The "positions would have given him a good knowledge about the organization's purpose, mandate, agenda or activities."

De Montigny said Stables was "not isolated" from gang activities and "was fully integrated into the Hells Angels."

Court heard Stables arrived in Canada from Scotland with his parents at the age of seven and never obtained citizenship. He joined the gang in 2000 and claimed to quit in 2009.

His immigration problems began in 2006 after he was found carrying Hells Angels paraphernalia and phone numbers as he arrived on a flight at Vancouver International Airport. A report for his deportation was filed.

The board noted Stables had no "exit date" on his Hells Angels tattoo to show that he left the gang.

Stables still has appeals available to him before he can be deported, officials said.

Police said the Hells Angels are involved in drug trafficking, importation of drugs, manufacturing and distribution of drugs, thefts, extortions, firearms, prostitution, money laundering and murder.

"The organization collects intelligence on policing, and it operates a number of clubhouses that make it safe to conduct illegal business," the high court said. "Chapters are usually opened for the purpose of manufacturing or distributing drugs."

de Montigny said members who get in trouble with the law are assisted by club dues that are used to defray their costs.

Police said the Hells Angels is considered the primary producer and distributor of illegal drugs in the U.S. and Canada.


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