confrontation between rival bikers – the infamous Hells Angels and Bandidos.

600 police officers locked down the centre of the Duisburg to prevent a gang war from spilling out onto the streets of the gritty industrial city in North Rhine-Westphalia. The massive police presence was aimed at discouraging open confrontation between rival bikers – the infamous Hells Angels and Bandidos. The two sides are involved in a bloody turf war across Germany that culminated in the murder of a police officer earlier this month.

“Germany is in the midst of a war between these gangs,” said Thomas Jungbluth, a lead investigator with North Rhine-Westphalia’s state police. “When it comes to defending their turfs, they can be brutal and ruthless.”

The authorities in Duisburg are now afraid the trial of Timur A., a pimp with ties to the Hells Angels, could lead to more violence. Timur A. is accused of shooting dead Rudolf Heinz “Ashley” E., a 32-year old member of the Bandidos, in October 2009. He also faces two counts of attempted manslaughter for narrowly missing two women suspected of working as prostitutes for the Bandidos.The first day of the trial last week ended prematurely due to a legal technicality postponing it until March 31, but police will be on alert for as long as it continues to prevent another spasm of biker violence.Immediately after Ashley E.'s death, the Duisburg Chapter of the Bandidos declared war on the Hells Angels on their website by posting: “Expect no mercy.”The state police believe the Bandidos have already mapped out several routes of revenge.“A lot of it is about losing face and money,” said Jungbluth. “The Bandidos and Hells Angels are involved in gambling, both legal and illegal, prostitution, arms dealing, extortion, money laundering and drug trafficking.”
But the Hells Angels, with strongholds in nearby Düsseldorf and Dortmund, signaled that they were not in the least afraid of their rivals. There was an uncontrollable melee involving more than 100 bikers last November as Bandidos attempted to storm a Duisburg bordello controlled by the Hells Angels. Police only managed to restore order after several hours of violence and a state-wide call for backup.

That sparked the German authorities to crack down on both gangs with a series of raids, confiscating illegal weapons, drugs, counterfeit money, stolen motorcycle parts and other contraband. Several powerful members from both the Hells Angels and the Bandidos were arrested and taken out of circulation for months, leading to relative calm.

Until March 17. On that day, a Hells Angel allegedly murdered a member of Rhineland-Palatinate's special police unit by firing two shots through the door of his house when officers were trying to serve a search warrant. This led Germany's powerful police union GdP to demand a total ban on bikers gangs.

But Udo Potthoff, a spokesman for the Duisburg police, said that would drive criminal biker elements underground.

“If we let them operate under their colours and from their various headquarters in different cities, at least we’re able to know where they are and keep some control over their actions,” he told The Local.

The biker war began to escalate about six years ago in the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein.

Cities like Kiel, Flensburg, Lübeck and Hamburg used to be “controlled” by the Hells Angels, but the Bandidos – who began their march through Europe after gaining their first bridgeheads in Denmark and Sweden in the early to mid 1990’s – are moving southward into the lucrative German market.
The result is an angry and fearful public caught in the crossfire.
Gina Holstenbrink, 31-year old mother of two young children, lamented the exorbitant cost of security in Duisburg during the 13-day trial.
“They said on the radio that the cost of having this excessive police force here in Duisburg is roughly €180,000 per day,” she said outside of the courthouse. “That’s insane. How many meals can be cooked for kids at kindergarten? How many unemployed folks could start on schooling programs for that kind of money?”
But the authorities are determined not let the bikers have any opportunity for violence.“We won´t be caught with our guard down, that's for sure,” said Potthoff. “We'll be here with those big numbers, each and every day

Hells Angels Vs German Police Fight

Hells Angels Vs German Police Fight - Celebrity bloopers here

39-year-old Denis Jerome Labossiere, a Hells Angels associate, and Hince have been charged on the same indictment and will be tried together.

39-year-old Denis Jerome Labossiere, a Hells Angels associate, and Hince have been charged on the same indictment and will be tried together. Trial dates for all three accused have not been set.Police allege Labossiere's father Fernand, mother Rita and brother Remi were shot execution-style in their St. Leon area farmhouse before the building was burned to the ground, Nov. 26, 2005.Preliminary hearings are held to determine if there is enough evidence to proceed to trial. Defence lawyers are often critical of direct indictments as they don't allow an accused the opportunity to test the evidence against him prior to trial.Labossiere is also charged with three counts of conspiracy to commit murder in an alleged plot to kill two other family members and an acquaintance. The alleged targets, all Winnipeg residents, were not harmed.In April 2008, Labossiere's nephew Joel Labossiere and his pregnant wife Magdalena were shot to death in their St. Vital home. Police charged 40-year-old Kelly John Clarke with two counts of first-degree murder.

Lone Wolf bikie gang member Aaron Scheers cut off a man's ears over a disputed drug debt

bikie who cut off a man's ears over a disputed drug debt has been jailed for 16 years. But amid emotion-charged scenes in Southport District Court today, former Lone Wolf bikie gang member Aaron Scheers vowed to appeal as he was led away to the cells.Scheers' tearful mother cried out at the judge as he left the courtroom and his father said the truth had not come out.``If the truth was told, we'd all be dead,'' he told reporters.Other family members yelled accusations at officers from police anti-bikie squad Taskforce Hydra who charged Scheers.Scheers, 26, pleaded guilty to 10 charges including kidnapping, grievious bodily harm, extortion and attempting to pervert the course of justice.In November 2007, after an all night alcohol and drug-fuelled party at the Lone Wolf clubhouse at Currumbin, self-confessed criminal David Holmes was kidnapped from his home, tied up and taken to a national park where he was bashed and had his ears sliced off.Holmes was later threatened and bribed not to testify against Scheers but another bikie gang associate rolled over to police.Judge Clive Wall, QC, said Holmes had been left for dead in a callous, brutal and corwardly attack.He said the ear-cutting, especially, was 'an extremely brutal and cruel' crime of a type rarely seen in Australia.
Holmes' disfigurement 'will be a permanent reminder of what you did to him', the judge told Scheers.Judge Wall sentenced Scheers to 13 years for the ear-cutting - the top of the range recommended by prosecutors.He added three years to the sentence for the offence of attempting to pervert the course of justice.Earlier this month, Scheers was jailed for eight months for contempt for refusing to answer Crime and Misconduct Commission questions relating to witness tampering.Scheers, who has already spent more than two years behind bars awaiting sentence, was declared a serious violent offender - meaning he will have to serve at least 80 per cent of his sentence.``We'll appeal it, don't worry about it,'' he shouted to family members as he was led away.

Al LeBras pleaded guilty to three counts of drug trafficking, money laundering and instructing the commission of an offence for a criminal organizati

58-year-old longtime outlaw biker — one of 18 people arrested following a 2007 police investigation targeting the Hells Angels and associates — was sentenced Tuesday to 15 years in prison.Ali LeBras pleaded guilty to three counts of drug trafficking, money laundering and instructing the commission of an offence for a criminal organization.
LeBras’ sentence was jointly recommended by the Crown and defence. Justice Brenda Keyser said the only factor in LeBras’ favour was his guilty plea.“He has shown non-existent remorse and rehabilitation is not even remotely a factor,” Keyser said. “He could easily be facing a longer period of custody were it not for the joint submission.”Project Drill began in November 2006 and was handled by the Manitoba Integrated Organized Crime Task Force. It focused on drug trafficking in Manitoba, B.C., Alberta and Ontario. Police agent and career criminal Scotty Robertson was paid more than $500,000 to ensnare LeBras, a longtime friend, and other targets, including then-Manitoba Hells Angels president Dale Donovan.Court heard that LeBras, on two different occasions, sold Robertson a kilogram of cocaine and half a kilogram of cocaine. A third drug deal was in the works before police pulled the plug on the investigation and arrested the suspects, said Crown attorney Chris Mainella. Mainella said LeBras encouraged Robertson to try joining the Hells Angels and offered to assist his efforts.Court heard LeBras laundered tens of thousands of dollars through the Merchants Hotel, exchanging small denomination bills for $50 and $100 bills.
Mainella said the owners of the hotel told police they used the laundered money to stock their ATM machines. “This is classic money laundering,” he said.LeBras has been associated with outlaw biker gangs his entire adult life. He has admitted to selling drugs since at least 1975 and has been in and out of jail for decades.Lebras’ sentence includes a $46,000 fine, satisfied by the seizure of two Harley Davidson motorcyclespresident of the Los Brovos motorcycle gang was given a 15-year sentence in connection with a series of charges stemming from a massive police investigation into organized crime.Al Lebras was one of 17 people arrested in December 2007 as part of a 13-month-long police investigation called Project Drill. He was charged with conspiracy to traffic in cocaine, laundering proceeds of crime and participating in a criminal organization. Out of all those arrested during Project Drill, Lebras is now the 15th to plead guilty.Lebras, a longtime biker, was recorded by police selling one kilo of cocaine to a friend he’d known for 20 years. At the time of the sale, Lebras was unaware his friend was working as an agent for police. As part of a joint recommendation, Lebras received a 15-year-sentence Tuesday and could die in prison because of his age. Crown attorney Chris Mainella told the court that Lebras is now 59-years-old and has already spent about a third of his life in prison and that he has been involved with outlaw motorcycle gangs for the better part of four decades, either as a member or on the periphery. Lebras was described in court as someone with a long criminal record who shows no remorse and has no chance of rehabilitation.
The Los Brovos, the gang formerly led by Lebras, patched over to become Hells Angels about 10 years ago.

group of Amsterdam Hells Angels escaped charges of criminal conspiracy because conversations between the bikers and their lawyers had been tapped

group of Amsterdam Hells Angels escaped charges of criminal conspiracy because conversations between the bikers and their lawyers had been tapped and transcribed for years. In 2008, the court in Amsterdam tossed out a case against a mugger who was arrested in his lawyer’s office after the police had listened in on a conversation between the two. To avoid this from happening again, the public prosecutor’s office now wants to make a clean sweep. A committee, led by Arnhem’s public prosecutor Nicole Zandee, has proposed some rigorous measures. For one, the prosecutor’s office should block a number of phone numbers belonging to people with whom suspects should be able to communicate in confidence. If this becomes the norm, prosecutors will no longer destroy the tapped conversations after these have taken place, they will never have access to it. ” We don’t want to hear these discussions at all,” Nicole Zandee explained. Such a system would not solve all the problems the prosecution faces. Suspects also communicate through email and instant messaging, which raises new questions. Is a report a lawyer sends to his client still confidential if he forwards it to third parties? The Netherlands Bar Association has cited a “common interest” in tackling the issue, but it also believes the new measures will be anything but airtight. The blocked numbers list won’t include the switchboard number for large law firms. The Dutch justice department wants to be able to still tap these lines. Criminal defence attorneys’ direct numbers will be blocked, but if a lawyer initiates a conversation, this is commonly done through the switchboard number, meaning the conversation could still be tapped. The prosecutor’s office wants lawyers to limit their business calls to blocked numbers. But the Dutch Bar has countered that this is not always possible. A client calling a law firm’s switchboard from jail would, for instance, be susceptible to phone taps. Registries of confidential phone calls that slip through the cracks of the new system will have to be destroyed. But will they really? Frank Paauw, a deputy police commissioner and a member of the committee chaired by Zandee, explained to the NRC how the destruction process works. “A conversation that needs to be destroyed is ripped apart, torn to digital shreds. The remnants are stored on the server. The computer is then told to overwrite all the bits at random as soon as new information is stored,” he said. But is that “destruction” as required by the law? To Paauw, the matter is one of semantics. “It is unthinkable that such a conversation can be reconstructed,” he said. By the end of the year, the prosecutor’s office hopes to have calculated how many conversations it has illegally transcribed nationwide. The proposed measures should take effect

alleged member of the Comanchero Outlaw Motorcycle Gang has been charged over an armed robbery of a car wash in Sydney's west.

alleged member of the Comanchero Outlaw Motorcycle Gang has been charged over an armed robbery of a car wash in Sydney's west.Police apprehended the 30-year-old at the car wash on North Parade in Mount Druitt after he made threats and demands for money from the proprietor around 2.40pm (AEDT) yesterday.Police says they found a broken wooden baseball bat tucked into his tracksuit pants.The man was charged with robbery and being armed with intent.He was refused bail and will face the Mount Druitt Local Court today.

RAIDED clubhouse of the Las Vegas Hells Angels

Metro Police SWAT Team charged into the clubhouse of the Las Vegas Hells Angels Wednesday morning. They were looking for furniture, household goods, vehicles and firearms embezzled while members of the motorcycle club were employed at the Salvation Army.SWAT charged through the gates of the clubhouse on Bonanza and 15th Street armed not only with an armored car, but also a search warrant.Police say people donating guns and vehicles to the Salvation Army will be surprised to learn they went right into the hands of Hells Angels members hired by the charity."If between 2007 and 2009 you donated either vehicles or firearms to the Salvation Army and you feel possibly they fell into the wrong hands, we'd like to talk to you," said Metro Officer Bill Cassell.When police raided the home, there was nobody inside. They haven't made any arrests and won't say how many people are involved in the ongoing investigation.They also didn't find any weapons in the clubhouse, but pulled out nearly everything else inside and tagged it as evidence.The Salvation Army says they suspected last year some employees may be stealing donated items."It was a territorial headquarters audit that brought to light these concerns. And our territorial headquarters approached local law enforcement," said Major Robert Lloyd with Salvation Army. The Salvation Army does accept donations of firearms, but they don't sell them at their thrift stores. Instead, they are put on consignment at local gun stores.Police say multiple members of the Hells Angels got jobs at the receiving departments of Salvation Army donation centers.The Hells Angels clubhouse was raided by SWAT in December of 2009. Metro says it's part of a year long investigation that appears to be getting close to some arrests.

ordered a Hells Angels gang member to hand in his patch to be destroyed after finding that the man had illegally worn it in public.

Hastings Hells Angels member Bryan Vincent Moore had pleaded not guilty to a wearing a T-shirt with the words "Hells Angels MC Hastings" in Bell St, Whanganui last September.

Anti-gang patch supporter Mayor Michael Laws said the court decision was "one up for the good guys". The decision upheld the council's bylaw, he said. "The Whanganui community wanted this law, Parliament obliged, and now the courts have upheld it. This is something of a rejoinder to those council critics who argued that our bylaw wouldn't survive a judicial test." Under the Wanganui District Council (Prohibition of Gang Insignia) Act 2009 section 12, it is illegal to display gang insignia without reasonable excuse. Moore's lawyer said the bylaw had no geographical boundaries, was unreasonable and limited freedom of expression.
In a reserved decision yesterday, Judge Peter Butler found the defendant guilty. As it was a test case, a fine was not warranted, he said. Moore was convicted and ordered to forfeit his gang patch for destruction.

The council and police are currently seeking a court order to dismantle gang fortifications at the Hells Angels address in Whanganui.

Red Devils, a feeder gang for the notorious Hells Angels Motorcycle Club

Red Devils, a feeder gang for the notorious Hells Angels Motorcycle Club, is using a house in Nelson as its headquarters. The gang formed a chapter in Nelson last April, with four members publicly displaying their patches during a charity ride. It was the first time the group had been seen in New Zealand. Detective Senior Sergeant Wayne McCoy of Nelson police said a property in Natalie St, in an industrial area off St Vincent St, was the members' new base. A large new wooden fence fronts it. Neighbours said it had been erected in the past week. When the Nelson Mail visited yesterday afternoon, the gate was locked and a man at the house refused to answer questions.
Vehicles parked at the house are registered to the directors of Nelson Bays Motorcycle Events Ltd, which ran last weekend's poker run in which Red Devils and Hells Angels members took part. When contacted by The Nelson Mail, the owner of the house, who lives in a nearby street, declined to comment on who was using it.
Police were keeping an eye on the property last weekend. Senior Sergeant Grant Andrews of Motueka police said the address was "of interest" to police during Operation Joker 2, which monitored the poker run.
He said there had been "quite a bit of gang movement there" since about a week ago. He did not want to speculate on the possibility of confrontation between the Red Devils and Nelson's long-established group, the Lost Breed Motorcycle Club, but said there had been no problems between Lost Breed members and the participants in last weekend's ride. "There's always going to be a tension there, and that's just the way it is," he said.
There were four known members of the Red Devils in Nelson, and that had not changed over the weekend, he said. Lost Breed spokesman Rick Sanders declined to comment on the Red Devils establishing a base in the region. Mr McCoy said there was a danger that with the establishment of a second patched motorcycle club in Nelson, regular citizens might be caught in the crossfire if there was a clash. "Having come from Timaru, where the Road Knights and the Devil's Henchmen actually had a power play in the early '90s, the danger is that innocent bystanders are caught up in the melees. "If you had a big paddock and put them all in and say `May the best man win', then it wouldn't be a problem. But that's not the worry – the worry is that someone who's not involved in either gets killed, damaged, whatever." Mr Andrews said the Red Devils were gaining a foothold in the South Island and after spending some time consolidating, they would most likely change patches to the Hells Angels.

turf battle between as many as eight rival gang factions has turned much of the city's South End into a shooting gallery

turf battle between as many as eight rival gang factions has turned much of the city's South End into a shooting gallery, and street cops are shaking their heads as local politicians seem unaware of how bad the situation is becoming and unable to do anything about it.More than 50 shooting incidents have occurred since the first of the year here, including one Saturday at 9:30 a.m. at Pine Avenue and 30th Street, a gun battle at 16th and Niagara streets last Tuesday at 3 p.m., and the city's second homicide of the young year, Thursday at the Monteagle Ridge housing project on Hyde Park Boulevard. And, while no shots were fired, badly outnumbered city police officers were forced to call in Niagara County Sheriff's Department and State Police units Saturday night when a crowd estimated at 2,000 people rioted outside the Conference Center Niagara Falls following an appearance by gangsta rapper Fat Joe, who himself has been arrested twice and was named by police as a witness in no fewer than three homicides.

More than a dozen people were arrested and a police officer was injured in the Saturday night melee. The recent violence is linked to the highly successful police raids that broke the back of the Bloods street gang here. Well over 30 members of the gang were rounded up in a series of raids that began last spring and continued into the summer. Dubbed "Operation Blood Clot" by law enforcement, a combined strike force of local, state and federal officers fanned out throughout the city and effectively cut the head off of the violent drug and murder combine.

In the wake of the Bloods' decapitation, as many as eight different groups have sprung up trying to reclaim the two-bit Niagara Falls rackets formerly dominated by the highly organized gang. The result has been an escalation of senseless violence previously unknown in the city, despite its rich history of gangsterism.

Marijuana, crack cocaine, strong-arm robberies and prostitution generate the cash that buys the guns for a new generation of thugs so lacking in intellect that pulling a trigger becomes the rote response for any of life's myriad problems, rather than a last resort. "The situation has gotten totally out of control," said City Councilman Bob Anderson. "It's to the point where people in these neighborhoods are afraid to go out of their own homes in broad daylight. It's like a war zone." Anderson has long advocated that a portion of the city's share of revenue from the Seneca Niagara Casino be used to hire a minimum of 100 more police officers here, an idea that's been shot down successively by former mayors Irene Elia and Vince Anello, as well as current Mayor Paul Dyster, on the grounds that the money has been earmarked for "economic development."
Currently, the Niagara Falls City Police Department is down to approximately 155 officers, including 16 cadets who will not be fully operational until September, sources told the Niagara Falls Reporter. They are outnumbered on the streets many times over by an army of armed punks, too lazy to work but emboldened by a legal and political system that seems to favor them. At any given time, sources say, there are just six squad cars on patrol in the whole city.
Police say that if things continue as they are, it's only a matter of time before some elderly person going out for groceries or child coming home from school gets shot. "It's very serious," Chief of Detectives Bill Thomson told the Buffalo News last week. "Sooner or later, an innocent victim is going to get caught up in this nonsense." No one is more frustrated than the beat cops whose job it is to go out and deal with these thugs on a day-to-day basis. "The fire is already burning hot, and if they don't let the police do their jobs, they will have an inferno by summer that all the water in the Niagara River won't be able to put out," one officer told the Reporter over the weekend. The officer cited a Dec. 28, 2009 case in which two city policemen were involved in a foot chase at the Center Court housing project. The suspect was wanted on numerous warrants, and during the course of the chase was seen making calls on his cell phone.

By the time the pursuing cops tackled him, a crowd had gathered, surrounding the lawmen, who yelled at the people to get back and pulled out their Tasers. The situation was so bad that every police unit in the downtown area responded to the scene. Enter the Rev. Jimmie Seright, the sometimes controversial Niagara Falls activist whose own sons, Jason Seright, 30, and Jake Seright, 36, were picked up and charged with distribution and possession of drugs last March during "Operation Blood Clot." He met with Mayor Dyster to complain about the officers' behavior in effecting the arrest of the wanted suspect. The two officers were suspended from duty, ostensibly for using "abusive language" toward the crowd that was threatening them.
"The mayor has allowed the street hoods and thugs to take over the city by empowering them," one veteran cop told the Reporter. "They know that all they have to do is call City Hall."

Hells Angels were originally called the Pissed-Off Bastards of Bloomington

Hells Angels were originally called the Pissed-Off Bastards of Bloomington, but that name didn’t exactly roll off of the tongue.
They were made up of disillusioned World War II veterans from southern California, and in 1948, they took the name of an American airforce squadron and called themselves “the Hells Angels.”
It was a case of life imitating art – eccentric mogul Howard Hughes had already made a movie in 1930 called Hell’s Angels, which was based on a fictional World War I fighter squadron.
For their symbol, the biker Hells Angels drew up a crest with a winged skull, which bore a resemblance to ones painted on American fighter planes and bombers.
Long before the Hells Angels logo or the aircraft paintings appeared, winged skulls appeared on headstones of Puritans in New England in the 1700s, symbolizing the ascendancy of the human spirit into heaven.
Around the same time the Pissed-Off Bastards of Bloomington changed their name, they also began wearing patches with “1%” on their chests.
That referred to a press release put out by the American Motorcyclist Association after bikers rioted at a rally in 1947 in Hollister, Calif.
The association’s press release stated that “the trouble was caused by the 1 per cent deviant that tarnishes the public image of both motorcycles and motorcyclists.”

ban the operations of motorcycle clubs such as Hells Angels in Denmark.

Danish Minister of Justice Lars Barfoed is not going to look into whether the Danish Constitution can be used to ban the operations of motorcycle clubs such as Hells Angels in Denmark. However, his Icelandic counterpart, Ragna Árnadóttir, is keen on using the Icelandic Constitution to prevent the club from launching operations in Iceland.

legions of Hells Angels are expected in Nelson this weekend for a poker run.

legions of Hells Angels members are expected in Nelson this weekend for a poker run.
About 30 bikies were stopped after they had disembarked from the ferry at 2pm, before heading to Nelson.About 12 police were involved in the operation.Most of the bikies were Hells Angels gang members.The poker run marks the one year anniversary of the first public outing in Nelson of patched members of the Red Devils, a puppet gang of the Hells Angels.The event is due to go ahead despite all the venues and the charity involved pulling their support at the last minute.Police had promised they would be out in force and said the public should not be intimidated by the gang presence.
"The important thing is that people are safe to go about their business and shouldn't be intimidated by the gang presence," said Senior Sergeant Grant Andrews of Motueka.
"We are aware of the risk but we are dedicated to policing this as we always do."
Yesterday the Turf Hotel in Stoke pulled its support for the event because of negative publicity. The Tapawera Hotel and the last venue on the run have also pulled out.St John Nelson, the event's designated charity, has said it will not accept any money from the poker run.The Tapawera Hotel's owner said she was fearful of violent clashes.
"If there's a threat like this, we don't want it in our pub. It's just a small pub, a quiet country pub. This is the last thing you want in your place."
Mr Andrews, who is heading Operation Joker 2, which will police the gang presence over the weekend, said he was open-minded about what might occur."It seems they can't have a run now because their whole run was to raise money for St John, who now doesn't want any of it."
However, despite the venue cancellations, Jarrod Gilbert, a University of Canterbury PhD student specialising in New Zealand gang culture, said the event would definitely go ahead.He said the Hells Angels had promoted the ride and their reputation was on the line.
"They will certainly follow through with this. Clubs face all sorts of hurdles – if you choose this lifestyle, you commit to running an event like this, but what exactly they will do remains to be seen."
A flier for the poker run says the event is organised by Nelson Bays Motorcycle Events, which "encourages safe and responsible riding".Mr Andrews said the police operation would go ahead as planned, but there was no intelligence to suggest that anything untoward would occur.The leader of a gang calling itself the Southern Skinheads spoke to Newstalk ZB on Wednesday, saying the Hells Angels were not welcome in Nelson because they would bring the drug P with them.The president, "Max", said: "We will burn any pub they drink at, any motel they stay at, and may take it to the extent we will probably try to shoot them off their motorbikes."Mr Andrews said police had to take the threat seriously to ensure the safety of the public."We are prepared for anything that might eventuate but they may just lay low and stay where they are."In Wellington this morning at the ferry terminal, Doug Jay, a patched Hells Angels member from Auckland who was on his way to Nelson, said the perpetrator of the threat should be treated with the contempt he deserved.The Nelson City Council passed a resolution yesterday forwarded by councillor Ian Barker, that the Nelson police were to be advised of the council's "grave concern" about the threats made publicly to burn Nelson hotels and motels, and to shoot people on motorbikes.The resolution also said the council would support the police in taking all action necessary to protect Nelson people and their property.
"The main reason for doing this is to let people know the council is concerned about people and their property," Mr Barker said.
Mr Gilbert said the Southern Skinheads had a small presence in the South Island in 1994 but lasted only a year. He said it was possible that a few people had reformed under the name, but it was equally likely that "a loose cannon was shooting his mouth off"."It seems like a very unusual thing to do in the scene. Usually if you are of that persuasion, you don't make threats – you take action.
Ulysses Club Nelson branch president Lorraine Lindsay said none of its members knew about the run, and the club, for motorcyclists aged 50 and over, did not support it at all.
"The whole thing is pretty negative. They use the motorcycles as a cover for criminal activity, and we certainly wouldn't want anything to do with that. If they saw our Japanese bikes, they probably would

Crown is seeking a 12-year sentence for Randy Potts and a 16-year sentence for John Punko, who have both pleaded guilty to drug trafficking charges.

Crown is seeking a 12-year sentence for Randy Potts and a 16-year sentence for John Punko, who have both pleaded guilty to drug trafficking charges.They were charged after a two-year police investigation, code-named Project E-Pandora, that resulted in the roundup of half a dozen members of Vancouver's East End chapter of the Hells Angels and more than a dozen associates.While a number of charges against Hells Angels members alleged the biker gang was a criminal organization, none of the prosecutions on those charges were successful.But it's not over yet, says the officer in charge of E-Pandora."It's not necessarily the final sentencing," RCMP Insp. Gary Shinkaruk said Thursday. "I'm cautiously optimistic it'll be back in court again."
He said the Crown is appealing a number of rulings, including one by B.C. Supreme Court Justice Peter Leask last November that the Crown could not proceed on criminal organization charges against Potts and Punko.Leask made the decision because a jury at another trial last summer involving the two accused and two other Hells Angels acquitted all the bikers on similar criminal organization charges."We still want to have a ruling on the criminal organization," Shinkaruk said, noting that despite the jury ruling, no B.C. judge has ruled on the criminal organization issue.However, there was an Ontario Superior Court ruling in 2008 that the Hells Angels is a national crime group.Potts is to be sentenced today on a guilty plea last year of being involved in a drug lab that made methamphetamine.Punko pleaded guilty last Dec. 7 to three charges: producing and trafficking methamphetamine, trafficking cocaine and possessing $387,140 cash that was the proceeds of the sale of illegal drugs, including $142,500 from selling five kilograms of cocaine to Michael Plante, who worked as a police agent and infiltrated the Hells Angels chapter.Plante secretly tape-recorded conversations between Punko, Potts and a meth lab cook named Ryan Renaud, who Punko suspected was also working for the UN gang and its boss Clay Roueche.Punko was earlier convicted of threatening a prosecutor in another Hells Angels case.Last summer, a jury convicted Punko, Potts and two other Hells Angels members, Ronaldo Lising and Jean Violette, of weapons offences and extortion.
In that case, Punko, 43, was convicted of the unauthorized possession of a loaded semi-automatic Smith & Wesson pistol and sentenced to 15 months in jail, plus a consecutive sentence of four years for counselling Plante damage a Surrey home, where Punko was trying to collect a large sum of money.
Potts, 49, was convicted of four offences: having control of illegal grenades, possessing a loaded Colt .45 semi-automatic pistol, possessing an Intratec 9-mm semi-automatic pistol, a Ruger .22-calibre semi-automatic rifle and Voere bolt-action rifle and a .44 Ruger revolver. Lising was convicted of possessing two loaded prohibited firearms.

Hells Angels threats by a local gang to burn any pub they drink at and shoot them off their bikes.

Hells Angels threats by a local gang to burn any pub they drink at and shoot them off their bikes.

Police will be out in force tomorrow as gang members arrive for a poker run, which marks the anniversary of the first public outing last year in Nelson of patched members of the Red Devils, a puppet gang of the Hells Angels.
That poker run saw more than 200 bikes, with 30-plus patched gang members, including four Red Devils, ride from the Turf Hotel in Stoke through Moutere, Riwaka, Tapawera and back. Today the Turf pulled out of Saturday's run.The threat has come from Southern Skinheads president "Max" who told Newstalk ZB the Angels were not welcome in Nelson because they would bring P with them. "We will burn any pub they drink at, any motel they stay at and may take it to the extent we will probably try to shoot them off their motorbikes," he said.
Nelson Bays police area commander Detective Inspector John Winter said police were anticipating a large contingent of motorcycle gangs including the Hells Angels arriving from the North Island.Police would be out in force. They would have a zero tolerance in road policing and other offending, and that would be made clear in Wellington when the bikies caught the ferry and again on their arrival in the South Island, he said.
"We have had discussions with a number of people and have nothing to suggest any confrontation, and we will be making sure there is not," he said.Senior Sergeant Grant Andrews, who is heading Operation Joker 2 which will police the gang presence over the weekend including the poker run, said police were not aware of the Southern Skinheads being in Nelson."We are looking into it and taking the threats seriously," he said.A flier for the Nelson Bays Poker Run says it supports St John, Nelson, and the event is in association with the Turf Hotel. The run has a $20 entry donation, and prizes include $1000 for first, $500 for second and $250 for third.

This year the flier does not list other sponsors. Mr Andrews said: "There was quite a bit of ill-feeling against the gang presence on the poker run last year and that has seen people who supported it in the past pull back and not support it this year."

Nelson Area Committee of St John chairman Dennis Creed said it was not having anything to do with the poker run and would not accept any money. "They've been great support in the past, but for some reason St John in the region, not just St John locally, has indicated that that support has to be withdrawn."The Turf Hotel today pulled its sponsorship for the event. A spokesman, who did not want to be identified, said it was concerned about negative publicity the run had received and its shareholders wanted to rebuild the pub's image. The pub is owned by four Nelson people, two of whom started managing it three weeks ago.The decision was made to pull the sponsorship at a meeting this morning.Tapawera Hotel manager Cory Bennett said the riders didn't cause any trouble last year when they stopped by and they had "good manners" when they lined up to buy drinks."They have one drink and they are gone. Half of them only drink Coke or raspberry and Coke."Last year they had lunch at the pub, and this year they would be dining at Kaiteriteri, Ms Bennett said. After lunch, the riders would call at the Tapawera Hotel.Their presence was not menacing and many took off their patched jackets before they entered the pub, Ms Bennett said. She was happy donating money to St John, but wouldn't say how much the pub gave. "It's for a really good cause."A Riwaka Hotel spokesperson had not heard from the poker run organiser and was not aware that the event was on this weekend. Last year, publican Peter Beauchamp said he would support the event again, if the organisers produced a balance sheet and banned club patches.Last year, following the Red Devils public display, the Lost Breed Motorcycle Club spoke out publicly saying Nelsonians should be worried about new gangs setting up in the region. It also said it did not condone the use of the methamphetamine drug P, and made clear it did not want confrontation.

A Lost Breed spokesman declined to comment on gangs coming for this weekend's poker run.

Leroy Frasier, who also is former president of the club’s Black Region of Michigan and Indiana, must surrender at noon

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Leroy Frasier, who also is former president of the club’s Black Region of Michigan and Indiana, must surrender at noon April 19 to serve 10 months behind bars plus one year of supervised release. former president of the Bay City chapter of The Outlaws motorcycle gang is headed to federal prison
He also must surrender his firearms, including a .38-caliber Smith & Wesson revolver, court records show.
Frasier pleaded guilty to violent crimes in aid of racketeering - conspiracy to assault with a dangerous weapon. The charge is a three-year felony that includes up to $250,000 in fines.
In exchange, prosecutors dismissed two counts of assault and single counts of aggravated or felonious assault and unlawful transport of firearms, records show.
The charges stem from an April 1, 2006, melee between members of the Hells Angels and the Outlaws at a South Bend, Ind., swap meet.
Investigators alleged the brawlers beat each other with various weapons including motorcycle parts, ball peen hammers, fists, boots similar objects.
Although Frasier did not participate in the scrap, he helped plan the trip to South Bend knowing the confrontation over territory would occur with the arch-rival Hells Angels, investigators claimed.

arrested two more Comanchero bikies in relation to the seizure of 5kg of methylamphetamine

arrested two more Comanchero bikies in relation to the seizure of 5kg of methylamphetamine last week, in a joint operation with NSW police.WA Serious and Organised Crime Division detectives executed two more search warrants on Thursday in the northern Perth suburbs of Balcatta and Stirling.They arrested a 24-year-old Stirling man and a 28-year-old Balcatta man, both associates of the Comancheros, and charged them with serious drug offences in relation to the 5kg seizure on February 25.Both men are due to appear in the Perth Magistrates Court on March 10.Police arrested the president of the nascent WA chapter of the Comancheros and three gang associates last week when they seized the 5kg of drugs, which police said was secreted inside a vehicle that had been transported from Sydney to Perth.The drug seizure was part of Operation Baystone, which began after 2.7kg of methamphetamine was found in the Perth suburb of Stirling in December last year.

Steven Lindsay and Raymond Bonner were the first people convicted under Parliament's 2002 anti-gang law.

Steven Lindsay and Raymond Bonner were the first people convicted under Parliament's 2002 anti-gang law. The Ontario Court of Appeal last year dismissed the challenge, upholding the convictions for committing extortion "in association with" a criminal organization.The former bikers had sought leave to appeal that decision to the Supreme Court, but the country's top court today dismissed that application.At the pair's trial in Barrie, Ont., in 2005 the Superior Court judge declared the Hells Angels a criminal organization for the first time in Canada.
The anti-gang legislation the men were challenging allows courts to impose up to 14 additional years in prison to anyone who commits a serious crime "for the benefit of, at the direction of, or in association with a criminal organization."

Arnold Loto appeared via video link in Central Local Court where he pleaded guilty to riot and affray and the murder charge was withdrawn.

Arnold Loto, 41, and another man were charged with murder after a fight at Sydney Airport in March last year.Hells Angels associate Anthony Zervas was killed in the fight at the airport's domestic terminal.Arnold Loto appeared via video link in Central Local Court where he pleaded guilty to riot and affray and the murder charge was withdrawn.He remains in custody until he is sentenced and is expected to be called as a witness in the crown case against the other members.A magistrate put a non-publication order on facts tendered to the court.The include the name of the second man, who also had his murder charge dropped.

Comanchero nominee Arnold Loto, through his lawyer, yesterday indicated he would plead to his role in the violence

Comanchero bikie expected to testify over deadly airport riot, court told~
ONE of the 12 Comanchero charged over a fatal brawl at Sydney Airport has signalled that he will plead guilty and may have to testify against his gang mates, a court has heard.
Comanchero nominee Arnold Loto, through his lawyer, yesterday indicated he would plead to his role in the violence that went on to claim the life of Hells Angels affiliate Anthony Zervas. The 41-year-old from Heckenberg was the last of 12 Comanchero to be charged with murder, riot and affray following the incident at the Qantas terminal last year.
Violence allegedly broke out between members of the Comanchero and Hells Angels outlaw motorcycle gangs following tensions between the clubs on a Qantas flight from Melbourne on March 22 last year.
Loto's barrister Dina Yehia SC told Central Local Court yesterday that her client's case would now be "a short matter". "I anticipate there will be pleas of guilty in respect of one count of affray and one count of riot," she said.
Magistrate John Favretto was later told that it was Ms Yehia's "expectation . . . that he will now be called (as a witness) in the Crown case".
While the pleas have not been formally entered, Ms Yehia asked that the matter be adjourned to Friday for that to occur formally, when it would then be remitted to the District Court for sentence. The murder charge is expected to be withdrawn upon Loto formally entering those pleas of guilty.
Fifteen men are now facing charges - including three Hells Angels - and will front a committal hearing later this year but a fragmented argument is under way over witnesses required for cross-examination.
But as legal argument heated up in the case yesterday, a magistrate cast some doubt on a key part of the evidence relating to the charge of riot.
Barrister Avni Djemal, for the deceased's brother Peter Zervas, argued that the riot charge was dependant on at least 12 of the accused acting with "a common purpose" to commit unlawful violence.
He said a crucial element of his client's claim of self-defence to be explored at committal was that any "common purpose" between the rival gangs was preposterous.
Magistrate Favretto agreed that "there may be an inherent problem with riot".
But he said that was a matter to be explored at a later time.
The remaining matters will return to court next Tuesday.