The Hells Angels East End clubhouse after it was raided by police in 2005. Photograph by: PNG files , ...

The B.C. government is trying to seize two Hells Angels clubhouses in east Vancouver and Kelowna, claiming they have been linked to drug trafficking, extortion, threats and even murder.

The director of civil forfeiture has just filed a suit in B.C. Supreme Court naming 21 Hells Angels in both the East End and Kelowna chapters of the notorious biker gang, including high-profile members like John Bryce, David Giles and Jean Violette.

“The East End HAMC clubhouse and the Kelowna HAMC clubhouse have been used to engage in unlawful activities,” the suit claims, including a list of offences like production, importing and trafficking cocaine, pot and methamphetamine, assaults, uttering threats, extortion and “committing manslaughter or murder.”

The court documents say both clubhouses would continue to be used for illegal activities if left in the hands of the biker gang by providing a safe place for them to “conspire with each other or to instruct persons about the commission of unlawful activities.”

Criminal proceeds have been used to “maintain, improve or reduce the indebtedness against the East End HAMC clubhouse and the Kelowna HAMC clubhouse,” the director also alleges in the suit, which was filed at the Vancouver Law Courts on Monday.

“One of the main purposes of the HAMC. … is the facilitation or commission of serious offences that, if committed, would likely result in the direct or indirect receipt of material benefits by some or all of the people who comprise the HAMC or its chapters,” the claim says.

The director alleges that members of both the East End and Kelowna chapters do business that consists of “both legitimate enterprises and the unlawful activities described.”

The East End clubhouse, located at 3598 East Georgia, and the Kelowna building, at 837 Ellis Street, have “been modified, customized, and equipped to provide protection from detention, potential enemies and police infiltration,” the claim says.

The East Georgia property is assessed at $723,000 this year, while the Kelowna building is valued at $503,000, according to the latest B.C. Assessment Authority figures.

Police raided the East End clubhouse back in July 2005 after a major undercover investigation dubbed E-Pandora that made use of agent Michael Plante. It led to convictions of 13 Angels and associates for offences including trafficking cocaine and methamphetamine, extortion, conspiracy, possession of firearms and grenades and contempt of court.

E-Pandora ended Oct. 30, 2012 when a final charge was stayed against John Punko, one of the men named in the civil forfeiture suit.

The Kelowna clubhouse was raided in August 2012 in connection with another undercover investigation. So far, several men – including Kelowna vice-president Giles and full-patch member Bryan Oldham — have been charged with trafficking and conspiracy and committing offences on behalf of a criminal organization. Both Oldham and Giles are listed as defendants in the civil forfeiture case.

Also named in the new suit are full-patch HA members Robert Thomas and Norm Cocks who are charged, along with others, with murdering Kelowna resident Dain Phillips in June 2012.

The Hells Angels have 21 days to file a response before the director can ask for a judgment against the properties.

The director of civil forfeiture filed a similar claim against the Nanaimo Hells Angels clubhouse in November 2007, alleging it was being used as an instrument for unlawful activity. The case is still before the courts five years later.

HA spokesman Rick Ciarniello did not respond to interview requests. But he said in a media statement that he wasn’t surprised by the government action.

“It seems that in the last few years, law enforcement has taken a new direction. They now concentrate their efforts using civil law rather than criminal law,” he said. “By doing so, it is much easier for them to prosecute and to persecute.”

kbolan@vancouversun.com

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