Five alleged members of the Hells Angels and their support club face charges after police seized a cache of weapons as part of a robbery investigation in Southwestern Ontario.
A police investigation into a clash involving the Hells Angels and a rival outlaw motorcycle club in Southwestern Ontario led to charges against five men.
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Police were investigating a robbery in Cambridge on Sept. 21 during a confrontation between members of the Hells Angels, their support club the Red Devils and another outlaw motorcycle club, said OPP Det.-Insp. Scott Wade, head of the biker enforcement unit.
“It was in relation to vests,” said Wade, who declined to name the other club involved.
The incident happened in broad daylight and highlights the dangers outlaw motorcycle clubs pose to communities, Wade said.
“Confrontations between gangs, that is about territory, and it’s about criminal dominance,” he said.
Investigators conducted two searches last month in Cambridge, Waterloo, Seaforth and Whitby and seized 17 guns, ammunition, nine magazines, a modified whip, three Hells Angels vests, cellphones and a quantity of unknown pills, police said.
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A 34-year-old Seaforth man, a 36-year-old Whitby man, a 29-year-old Northumberland man, a 38-year-old Cambridge man and a 39-year-old Kitchener man faced a combined 14 charges including robbery, possession of property valued at more than $5,000 obtained by crime, unauthorized possession of a weapon, disguise with intent and theft of less than $5,000.
Four of the men have been released from custody and are scheduled to appear in court Nov. 26, while an arrest warrant has been issued for a fifth man.
Police allege four of the accused are members of the Hells Angels and one is a member of the Red Devils.
This is the latest police crackdown on the Hells Angels in Kitchener-Waterloo this year.
In May, the OPP searched four locations in Kitchener – two homes, an after-hours bar and the Hells Angels clubhouse – and seized a handgun, a kilogram of suspected cocaine, alcohol and electronic devices, police said at the time.
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The investigation started after police were alerted to an illegal after-hours club and determined it was linked to the Hells Angels, police said.
Five people, one of them an alleged “hang-around” member of the Hells Angels, were charged with drug trafficking and gun-related charges.
Hang-around status is the second of three steps to becoming a full-patch member of the Hells Angels, the largest outlaw motorcycle club in the world.
Anyone aspiring to join the club must know a member for five years before they can go to the clubhouse as a friend. Next, they’ll be granted hang-around status before being considered a prospect, the last step before becoming a full-patch member, a title that requires a vote from the entire membership in the province.
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