Northern News Services

"The hardcore, the outlaw elite, were the Hell's Angels... wearing the winged death's-head on the back of their sleeveless jackets and packing their 'mamas' behind them on big 'chopped hogs'," said American journalist Hunter S. Thompson in his 1966 book Hell's Angels, written while riding with the original chapter of the gang, which was based out of Oakland, California.

"They rode with a fine, unwashed arrogance, secure in their reputation as the rottenest motorcycle gang in the whole history of Christendom."

What began as a loose affiliation of social-castaways on Harley-Davidsons in the 1960s, has grown into a massive organized-crime outfit, whose reach extends throughout North America and Europe.

Even the Canadian Government documents the rise of what it refers to as "Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs" or OMGs on its Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness website.

According to information on the site, as well as documented sources from a host of books written on the subject, OMGs engage in many types of illegal activities including drug trafficking, money laundering, murder, fraud, theft and prostitution.

In the government's effort to combat these gangs, the criminal code was amended in 1997 to acknowledge crimes committed "for the benefit of, at the direction of or in association with a criminal organization."

However, it wasn't until February 2001 that the first people associated with an OMG were convicted under Canada's new anti-gang law.

In Quebec writer Yves Lavigne's book Hell's Angels At War: The Alarming Story Behind The Headlines, the investigative reporter documents the deadly politics and tactics used by OMGs as they fought for control of drug territory across Canada, the U.S. and Europe.

In Quebec alone there have been 150 deaths attributed to the six-year turf war between Hell's Angels and their rivals the Rock Machine.

Narco-trade inroads

Recently, OMGs have been making narco-trade inroads on the West Coast and - if one can believe the rumours - the Western Arctic, as well. Those interested in a perspective from the other side of the handlebars may want to check out Hell's Angel: The Life and Times of Sonny Barger and the Hell's Angels Motorcycle Club. Written by Barger, founding member and president of the Oakland chapter, the story chronicles his involvement in the gang from its beginnings to its worldwide expansion drive.