Chris Hunsley
Northern News Services

Inuvik (Aug 08/05) - Panic and fear rippled through the community last week after rumours swirled that a biker gang of Hell's Angels were en route to retaliate after a mob ran out of town a suspected group of drug dealers two weeks ago.

"I've told my kids, they're locked in the house," said one resident who phoned News/North Wednesday, and talked on condition of anonymity.

By late afternoon it seemed everyone in the town of 3,500 had been told seven Hell's Angels were on their way up the Dempster Highway. Five anonymous calls warning of the impending danger were logged at the News/North office and police say they received about 200 calls asking about the bikers.

"They're coming. It may not be today, but they know we're a small town and they can terrorize us," said one. "People here owe them money and they're going to come here and kill someone."

The rumours stemmed from an incident which occurred in the early morning hours of July 24 when a mob of close to 100 residents congregated outside the Capital Suites Hotel to chase eight men staying there from town.

According to police, six members of the mob are known drug traffickers.

Inuvik Mayor Peter Clarkson said he was told the eight men were in town to collect on drug debts. Others say the six mob members owed the Hell's Angels $1 million in unpaid drug money. Police had to intervene and escort the eight men from Inuvik the next day for their own safety.

Inuvik RCMP received calls from citizens concerned with retribution from as far away as Alberta, said Staff Sgt. Sid Gray.

He said, however, as far as his department can tell, the rumours are entirely unsubstantiated.

"We tracked back as many of the sources of the rumours as possible and it's just that, rumours!" insisted Gray.

The RCMP kept in close contact with detachments in Whitehorse, Dawson City and Fort McPherson, as well as ferry operators and a gas station to determine if the threat was valid.

"We checked and there was nothing," said Gray, who feels the gossip originated from paranoid drug dealers. Dawson City RCMP confirmed they'd seen nothing of the sort.

"People have a right to be fearful, but residents have a responsibility to use common sense," said Dawson City RCMP Sgt. Tim Ashmore. "The only ones who have anything to fear are those doing business with these guys."

One caller informed Gray she would prevent her children from attending university in Edmonton, fearing they would be targeted for having been part of the hotel mob.

"That's just ridiculous," he said.

By Thursday morning, residents were checking local campgrounds in an effort to validate the rumours.

"They're not here," said Sandra McLeod, who works at the Jak Park Campground. "The whole town has been through here today looking."

Organized crime

Gray would not tie the group of men run out of town to the Hell's Angels, as one radio station reported, but said it was possible.

The Hell's Angels were mentioned by RCMP Commissioner Giuliano Zaccardelli, in a conversation with News/North July 20, as being one of the key organized crime rings importing drugs into the North.

The RCMP keeps close watch on organized crime groups, and if an en masse ride out was heading towards the community, they would know about it and stop them before coming into town even if such a move violated the bikers' constitutional rights, said Gray. Reinforcements from Yellowknife could be on the scene within two to three hours, he added.

"I would escort them to the nearest service station, let them gas up and send them south," he said.

"It would probably cost me my job, but that's what I'd do."