NIAGARA FALLS—The Hells Angels motorcycle gang used bikers in affiliated clubs to run a drug- and human-trafficking ring across the province, the OPP said Wednesday.

“They deal in multiple commodities,” OPP Supt. Bryan MacKillop, director of the force’s organized crime bureau, said at a news conference announcing the arrests of 15 people earlier this month in Niagara Falls, Sudbury and Ottawa.

The arrests, part of a multi-jurisdictional police operation dubbed “Project Skylark,” resulted in 195 charges, including for the alleged trafficking of humans, fentanyl, cocaine and methamphetamine.

The operation targeted the Hells Angels and the affiliate groups the Red Devils and the Hooligans, uncovering an alleged trafficking network working in a triangle between the Niagara Region, Ottawa and Sudbury, police said.

“Organized crime has no boundaries and respects no jurisdictions,” McKillop said, adding that the arrests will have a significant impact on the drug trade in the province.

“We all know that we are facing an opioid crisis,” MacKillop said, adding that the fentanyl was legally manufactured and diverted to the bikers.

He declined to comment further on the fentanyl or human trafficking, saying the cases are now before the courts.

“Everyone should be absolutely furious that this is happening in Canada in 2019,” he said of the human-trafficking charges.

The 14-month police operation involved officers from the OPP as well as police services in Niagara, Hamilton, Sudbury and Ottawa.

Police said they seized drugs including about 12 kilograms each of cocaine and cannabis, 1,400 packages of cannabis edibles, several fentanyl patches, 2,000 tablets of meth, as well as 11 firearms, including assault rifles, 700 rounds of ammunition, $75,000 in Canadian currency, $30,000 in jewelry, one residence, and multiple vehicles, including three motorcycles and a Maserati car.

Among those charged with a variety of drug trafficking offences are six people police describe as members of motorcycle gangs.

Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading...

They are: Joseph Piccinetti, 41, of Sudbury, and Joshua Khosrowkhani, 31, of Ottawa, whom police described as full members of the Hells Angels Nomads chapter; Keith Earle, 31, of Niagara Falls, Brandon Tupling, 33, of Orleans, and Jovin Degre-Blais, 34, of Ottawa, all of whom ware described as full members of the Red Devils Motorcycle Club; and David Nan, 21, of Sudbury, who was described as a prospect member of the Hooligans Motorcycle Club.

There are more than 1,200 members of what police consider criminal motorcycle clubs in Ontario, accord to Det. Insp. Brad Nunn of the OPP.

“It’s an ever-increasing number,” Nunn said in an interview.

Read more about: