CANADA - Power vacuum opened door for Vagos

OFF THE WIRE
By ROB LAMBERTI
and CHRIS DOUCETTE,
Toronto Sun

The move by the Vagos into Canada comes after major police actions against the Hells in Ontario and Quebec and the demise of the Bandidos in 2007 left a biker power vacuum.
“So all the Hells Angels in Quebec are in jail, a lot of big name Hells Angels in Ontario are in jail or are on some sort” of court restriction, Ontario Biker Enforcement Unit Det.-Sgt. Len Isnor says.
“So this is the perfect environment right now for somebody to try and establish a club in Ontario.”
Before that crackdown “either you’re a Hells Angel in this province, or you’re an Outlaw, or you’re a nobody because no one is allowed to start up a 1% gang” without their approval, he says.
The Outlaws and Hells weren’t going to sanction another biker gang in their territory unless it was a puppet gang “to do their dirty work,” Isnor says.
The only way to circumvent that barrier is to be sanctioned by another major U.S. 1% gang, like the Vagos, he says.
“Unless you’re one of those big clubs from the U.S., you’re a nobody,” Isnor says.
The Bandidos imploded violently in 2006 in Shedden, Ont., near London, when six members, a prospect and an associate were massacred in an internal power struggle. The charter for Bandidos Canada was pulled by its Texas parent.
“There’s a number of Bandido people that were basically left without a gang, and the Outlaws weren’t taking them on and the Hells Angels for sure weren’t going to be taking them on,” Isnor says.
“They were looking for somewhere to belong,” he says.
“This is just another route that group of people are trying to take and they don’t want to settle for being just a motorcycle club. They want to be a 1% club.”