National Overview

The HELLS ANGELS remains the largest and most powerful outlaw motorcycle gang (OMG) in Canada with 34 (of which two in Quebec are currently inactive) chapters across the country comprising approximately 500 members. The HELLS ANGELS in British Columbia and several chapters in Ontario and Quebec remain sophisticated and well-established. However, the HELLS ANGELS is facing challenges throughout the rest of the country as a direct result of being successfully targeted by law enforcement, from internal conflict or from increased competition from other criminal organizations.

The OUTLAWS and BANDIDOS have been maintaining a low profile since law enforcement actions in 2002 significantly reduced their degree of threat. The OUTLAWS has seven chapters in Ontario, only three of which operate with any degree of stability. The BANDIDOS has one full chapter in Ontario and recently established a probationary chapter in Alberta. This probationary chapter may be an indication that the BANDIDOS, which has maintained a low profile in Canada since late 2002, may pose a challenge to the illicit drug activities of the HELLS ANGELS in western Canada.

OMGs, particularly the HELLS ANGELS, derive significant financial income from various criminal activities across the country such as prostitution, fraud and extortion. However, drug trafficking, particularly cocaine, marihuana and increasingly methamphetamine, remains the primary source of illicit income for OMGs. Their criminal activities can result in increased insurance premiums, property crimes and financial losses to victims and businesses. Drug trafficking can result in street-level violence from disputes over territory, drug-debt collection and related property crimes committed to support illicit drug addiction. So-called mega-trials of HELLS ANGELS in Manitoba and Quebec have resulted in a significant dedication of justice resources to long, complex trials involving multiple individuals and charges. In Quebec, the trials, to date, have resulted in a 100 per cent conviction rate.

The HELLS ANGELS in Canada has significant links to other organized crime groups. For example, some HELLS ANGELS members in B.C., Ontario and Quebec have links to members of Traditional (Italian-based) organized crime. These criminal networks can be used to facilitate the importation/exportation of illicit commodities.

The HELLS ANGELS’ criminal influence is growing in B.C. and Ontario; however, it is declining in Alberta, Manitoba, Quebec and Atlantic Canada. In some areas, the HELLS ANGELS is facing increased competition from other organized crime groups, such as Asian-based networks. In Edmonton, the BANDIDOS appears to be gaining support among local criminals. This competition has increasingly forced the HELLS ANGELS into cooperation with other criminal organizations in the trafficking and distribution of illicit commodities. As the HELLS ANGELS’ Halifax chapter was closed in 2003, its criminal influence in Atlantic Canada was significantly reduced. While there remains a smaller, less-sophisticated OMG presence in the region, it is unclear what criminal group(s) will emerge to dominate the illicit drug trade.

Despite law enforcement successes in the last year, which resulted in the arrests of multiple individuals on charges of drug trafficking, vehicle theft, conspiracy and gangsterism, the HELLS ANGELS’ criminal infrastructure in Ontario, and, to a lesser extent in Quebec, remains intact. The Ontario HELLS ANGELS has enhanced its influence since law enforcement actions severely weakened the OUTLAWS and BANDIDOS in 2002. The Quebec HELLS ANGELS still remain criminally active with four stable chapters. While the HELLS ANGELS’ criminal influence in Quebec is reduced, the arrest of prominent members may present opportunities for lower-level groups, such as street gangs, to expand into activities formerly controlled by the HELLS ANGELS.