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The Hells Angels “are an extraordinarily sophisticated entity” fighting to preserve their brand to help members around the world commit criminal acts, a lawyer representing the B.C. government said Monday.

Brent Olthuis told B.C. Supreme Court that three B.C. biker clubhouses should be forfeited to the government because they would likely be used to commit crimes if the bikers are allowed to maintain control of them.

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After more than a decade, the director of civil forfeiture’s lawsuit against the Hells Angels finally got underway before Justice Barry Davies at the Vancouver Law Courts on Monday.

It all started in November 2007 when police raided the Hells Angels’ Nanaimo clubhouse, which became the subject of the first civil forfeiture action. In 2012, the government agency filed suits to get clubhouses of the East End and Kelowna chapters forfeited as well.

The suit alleges that if the Hells Angels get to keep the clubhouses they will be used “to enhance the ability of a criminal organization, namely the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club, to commit indictable offences.”