Canada - Biker gangs kick-start expansion

OFF THE WIRE
A one per cent sign is a symbol worn by Bacchus gang members.

A Moncton-based RCMP officer working in police intelligence says the national force and Fredericton Police Force have been monitoring an upswing in activity in Fredericton by outlaw motorcycle gang members, and they've been working together to get to the bottom of it.
The North Star Sports Bar Pub and Eatery at 100 Clark St. on the north side of the city had been drawing visits by outlaw bikers, particularly the Bacchus motorcycle club that's has longtime links to the Hells Angels.

"There was a noticeable increase in activity in recent months at the North Star in Fredericton," said Const. Sebastien LeBlanc, an RCMP officer with the southeast integrated intelligence unit based out of Moncton.
"That's a fact and that's something I can back up.
"We've been working with Fredericton Police trying to get to the bottom of it.''
LeBlanc works specifically on national Criminal Security Intelligence Service Canada (CSIS) strategy to combat outlaw biker gangs.
Bacchus has a mother chapter in Osborne Corner, Albert County, which is the provincial headquarters. Another chapter exists in Saint John, and the third chapter is a newly absorbed chapter - formerly the Charlotte County Mariners - now the Bacchus St. George in St. George.
"Those three chapters consist of what the Bacchus motorcycle club consists of (in New Brunswick)," he said.
Bacchus members wear a diamond-shaped crest with the numeral one and a per cent sign on their jackets.
The one per cent patch is an open claim of outlaw status among biker gang members.
"They are the one per cent of society who believe in an anti-societal lifestyle," LeBlanc. "That one per cent diamond is worn by Hells Angels and the more popular, better known outlaw motorcycle gangs, and these guys (Bacchus) are wearing it."If we rewind the clock a year ago to January 2010, when the Charlotte County Mariners were absorbed, they claimed stake to Nova Scotia, and there was a patch over ceremony absorbing the East Coast Riders of Nova Scotia.
"So they now claim stake to two provinces. In January 2011, they (Bacchus) absorbed the Eastons Crew to form Bacchus Newfoundland. Now they have Newfoundland, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, so we're noticing a trend here. There's definitely an expansion going on here."
LeBlanc said he hopes now that the city of Fredericton has purchased the North Star property, it will make Fredericton less hospitable for outlaw bikers.
"There's also other motorcycle gangs in the province, but they're not one per cent clubs," LeBlanc said.
"For a motorcycle gang to be able to wear the one per cent diamond, they need to receive the blessing from a bigger, better established club like the Hells Angels. You have to be sponsored by a bigger chapter."
Bacchus also attracts potential new members called strikers who serve a probationary period, typically six months with the club, until they earn their one per cent patch.
"It's very, very similar to a business, even though it's an illegal one," he said.
Nova Scotia had been relatively quiet with motorcycle gang activity after its Hells Angels chapter folded in 2003 after a series of police raids that put most of its members in jail. Similarly, a major strike called Operation Shark against the Quebec Hells Angels in April 2009 sent 156 people to jail in a police operation involving 1,200 officers.
Even as police put a dent in biker gangs in those two provinces, it created a territorial vacuum that Bacchus has stepped in to secure, LeBlanc said.
Should Frederictonians be concerned about the influence of outlaw motorcycle gangs?
You bet, said Fredericton police Chief Barry MacKnight.
"We are concerned about the expansion of these groups into Atlantic Canada," MacKnight said in an interview.
While the chief wouldn't provide details about a closed-door briefing he gave to city councillors about Bacchus motorcycle club members scouting the North Star Sports Bar Pub and Eatery, he said outlaw motorcycle gangs are a serious organized crime threat to communities throughout Canada.
"We have drug crime in Fredericton, and where there are drug dealers, these are not all mom-and-pop operations," MacKnight said.
"Many of them get their drugs through the networks that are ultimately controlled by large, extremely substantial organized crime groups in other parts of the country.
"They are a cause of major harm across the country. They're involved in serious and organized crime, and every police agency is probably involved in some type of activity related to at least the influence of outlaw motorcycle gangs in their communities, whether as a supplier of drugs or whatever the case may be.''
He said police organizations are working together to fight biker gangs and organized crime.
They function in the same way a legitimate business operates in the sense that if they see a population base - and market forces that will make it profitable - they'll stake out that territory for expansion.
"A lot of it is population-based. Market forces around even illegal types of businesses are sort of the same as in the business world," MacKnight said. "Outlaw motorcycle gangs have always had an influence in controlling the drug market in Eastern Canada throughout smaller communities.
"We are concerned about the evolution of motorcycle gangs and the possibility of expansion. That's why we are constantly looking at these issues as we work to keep our communities safe and to control and reduce crime."
Eastern Canada has seen an upswing in illegal biker clubs associated with Hells Angels and not Hells Angels rivals such as the Outlaws.

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