Hells Angels 'puppets' doing business in region
Author describes widespread network of organized crime

By LIZ MONTEIRO - The Record

Puppet gangs doing the dirty work of the Hells Angels are popping up across Ontario as more young men become outlaw bikers, an organized-crime writer says. The puppet gangs are made up of men as young as 16, who are sponsored by the Hells Angels to insulate gang members from criminal prosecution, writer Antonio Nicaso said yesterday.
Waterloo Region has a Hells Angels chapter as well as a few members of the puppet gang Red Line Crew, who are affiliated with the Milton chapter. The goal of puppet gang members is to become full-patch, or full-fledged, members of Hells Angels, Nicaso said. "You don't want to be in a puppet gang all your life,'' Nicaso said in an interview at The Record.
Det. Staff Sgt. Scott Mills of the provincial Biker Enforcement Unit puts the number of full-patch Hells Angels in Waterloo Region at 12. There are also men with the status of "prospect" and "hangaround" -- recognized gang positions -- but Mills wouldn't say how many.
Nicaso said puppet gang members must show they are responsible and loyal to the organization. Visible clashes attract unwanted attention from police and the media, he said.
Just last year, Waterloo regional police conducted an investigation into the Red Line Crew, which led to the arrest of Sean Dwyer of Cambridge, a Red Line Crew member.
Last month, he pleaded guilty to possession of more than six kilograms of hashish for the purpose of trafficking. Dwyer, 34, got nine months of house arrest, escaping a term in jail because he is on dialysis, waiting for a kidney transplant. Mills said Dwyer is no longer with Red Line but instead has "recognized status" with the Hells Angels. He wouldn't elaborate. But Dwyer's gang interests are evident at his business, Route 81, House of Pain Tattoo and Piercing Studio on Ainslie Street in Galt. (The digits 8 and 1 stand for the letters H and A -- or Hells Angels.) Dwyer sells leather jackets, motorcycle helmets and gloves, as well as T-shirts and sweatshirts that read Support the Big Red Machine Kitchener. Inside the tattoo parlour, an electronic billboard advertises a Red Line Crew anniversary party. "If you're buying clothing that says support the Hells Angels, support the 81 or the Big Red Machine, you know that monetarily or in spirit you are supporting criminals or criminal organizations,'' Mills said. Other known puppet gangs include the Red Line Crew in Toronto, The Foundation out of Richmond Hill and The Crew in Sudbury. In Ontario, there are 16 Hells Angels chapters and 229 members, Mills said.
The Hells Angels is a powerful organization with an efficient public-relations strategy, Nicaso said. The Ontario chapters try to set themselves apart from their more violent peers in Quebec. "If we don't see blood on the streets . . . it doesn't mean there are no criminal activities going on,'' Nicaso said.
Nicaso said bikers are masters at portraying themselves as law-abiding. They take part in motorcycle charity runs and collect toys for needy children. "They are fantastic with that." But crime organizations are also increasingly working together, Nicaso said. With the help of the Mafia, for example, the Hells Angels were able to move into Ontario, he said. Nicaso said that when Vito Rizzuto, known as the godfather of the Canadian Mafia, moved from Montreal to Toronto, negotiations to open Hells Angels chapters in Ontario began.
Nicaso's most recent book, co-written with Lee Lamothe -- Angels, Mobsters and Narco-Terrorists, The Rising Menace of Global Criminal Empires -- details the connection between traditional organized crime and emerging groups such as terrorists looking to finance their operations through new partnerships.
Nicaso wrote his first book about a car-bomb attack, which he escaped in Italy in 1989. He was journalist for a daily Italian newspaper writing stories about Mafia families and their criminal activities. After the threat on his life, he emigrated first in United States and then in Canada. Nicaso, a former co-editor of Toronto's daily Italian-language newspaper, said he's had threats in this country as well but doesn't pay much attention to them now. He is partner in a consulting company on organized crime. He calls Canada a welcome wagon for organized crime, with a revolving door for those doing illegal business to enter. There are 18 transnational criminal organizations in Canada, he said, which should raise a flag for Canadian authorities. But Nicaso is scornful of Canada's justice system. "Crime pays in this country," he said.
"The judicial system is a joke. It's a country of crime, not a country of punishment." For example, he said, lengthy sentences are often bargained away in return for guilty pleas. Terrorism has also changed the picture of organized crime. Nicaso said that since Sept. 11, many terrorists have been forced to finance their organizations by co-operating with groups they hadn't associated with in the past -- drug traffickers.
"Drug trafficking becomes the paycheque of terrorists,'' he said. "The terrorists need firearms and the criminals need narcotics.'' The terrorists' goals are very different from those of traditional crime groups, so a merger won't happen. But co-operation will likely increase, he said. Nicaso said organized crime can't be completely defeated, but roadblocks can be put in its way. "We can make it the worst place to operate,'' he said. Nicaso said law authorities should go after the mobsters' assets by confiscating property through proceeds-of-crime laws, and avoid plea bargaining with criminals by issuing mandatory prison terms like in the U.S. "Being a mobster is a lifetime commitment. It's like the priesthood. They won't be rehabilitated."

November 03, 2005    Page: A1