Hells Angels establish presence in Charlottetown
Posted Dec 27, 2016 09:52:55 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Canada’s most notorious motorcycle gang ended the year by establishing a presence in P.E.I.
Earlier this month, members affiliated with an Ontario Hells Angels chapter held a party in Charlottetown to celebrate the establishment of a new hangaround club.
RCMP Corporal Andy Cook says there are currently eight bikers with so-called hangaround status who will have to attain prospect status before coming “full patch” members of the Angels.
It’s a process that can take up to two years to complete.
The Island party followed other high profile “welcome home” events held in 2016 by the Hells Angels, including one in Musquodoboit Harbour, a community 45 kilometres east of Halifax.
Saint Mary’s University criminologist Stephen Schneider says in recent years the gang has begun to re-assert itself in the Maritimes, mainly through affiliate or so called “puppet clubs” in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and P.E.I.
Schneider says the primary goal is to gain control of territory and drug smuggling operations in the region, particularly through the port of Halifax.
