Notorious building is in legal limbo. Hells Angels

OFF THE WIRE
Source: canada.com
Canada - ~Notorious building is in legal limbo. Hells Angels clubhouse~
Province's seizure after high-profile 2007 police raid still being contested in the courts

Nanaimo's Hells Angels clubhouse remains in legal limbo more than two years after armed officers stormed the Victoria Road building.

The province used the Civil Forfeiture Act to seize the clubhouse in November of 2007. Under the controversial act, the B.C. Supreme Court can order the seizure of property if it's believed to have been acquired with crime money or used for crime.

A trial regarding the forfeiture of the local biker clubhouse isn't slated to begin until sometime in 2011, said Rob Kroeker, the executive director of the civil forfeiture office, a division of B.C.'s Solicitor General's Ministry. An exact trial date hasn't been scheduled yet.

Meanwhile, the local Hells Angels are appealing a court decision from March, 2009, when the group was denied its bid to have their clubhouse returned to them. The Hells Angels argued that their civil rights had been trampled, but B.C. Supreme Court Barry Davies concluded there was enough evidence of possible criminal wrongdoing that the property needed to be held until a trial.

Organized crime experts speculate that the seizure of the clubhouse may have reduced the activities of the Hell's Angels in Nanaimo.

RCMP had hinted that the seizure of the clubhouse was behind the cancellation of the 2008 annual "Zeke Run," where Hells Angels members across the province meet in Nanaimo for a ride. The ride came back in 2009 and also took place last May, with bikers meeting at the now boarded-up clubhouse.