Since the arrest of Dave Turmel | Sympathizers of the more visible Hells Angels

July 7. Members of the Hells Angels, carrying their jacket, stop and break the crust in a restaurant in Val-d’Or, in Abitibi.

Last May, members of a subordinate club and their godfather, a member of the Hells Angels of the Trois-Rivières section, were seen carrying their jacket in a bar in Saguenay.

Last April, three individuals connected to the Marauders, including a member sporting his colors inside a restaurant in Laval, wildly beat a customer. The three men are arrested and accused. The marauders are sponsored by the Hells Angels of the Montreal section.

For years, before and after the Sharqc operation (2009), it was rare to hear about bikers who wore their colors in Quebec bars and restaurants. But now this has occurred at least three times in the past four months.

Have bikers started to appear in bars and restaurants?

“Since the arrest of Dave Turmel, we have seen more patches In eastern Quebec, “replies Pierre-Mathieu Viviers, head inspector and intelligence boss to the Sûreté du Québec (SQ).

Dave Turmel is this gang leader involved in a rebellion against the Hells Angels who has been around for two years in the national capital region and on the North Shore. He was arrested in Italy at the end of March, after a long run.

Such a rebellion also takes place in Saguenay, where the Hells Angels of Trois-Rivières, who control the region, mesh from an independent trafficker, All Boivin, still wanted by the police.

“There are several members of supporter clubs and even Hells Angels who have been targets of attempted murder and misdeeds. Buried businesses, attacked premises, so they were less displayed. But since Turmel’s arrest, we see that supporting clubs, that we saw less often in licensed establishments or in festivals, are more and more sighted and are less embarrassed to wear their colors. Which makes us think that they may want to take up parts of lost territories or regain influence, ”says Chief Inspector Viviers.

“Clearly, the Hells Angels have lost influence. Some are afraid. That they take up certain initiatives to show that they are still there? Yes. But have they regained influence? I don’t think so, ”adds the officer.

A coalition of motorcyclists

However, the SQ specifies that apart from rare exceptions, it is mainly members of school clubs or sympathizers who are observed with their jackets in bars and restaurants, not the members of the Hells Angels. However, they carry more discreet signs, such as jewelry with the image of the band.

“Their weapon is their supporter clubs,” says Pierre-Mathieu Viviers.

In 2020, the coalition of Quebec motorcycle clubs was officially recorded in Quebec. His three administrators are Gilles Grégoire, Robert Goulet and Jacques Duguay, respectively members, according to the police, of the Brotherhood of Montreal, the Dark Souls of Montérégie and the destroyers of Montérégie, three clubs sympathizing of the Hells Angels.

The coalition would be sponsored, according to our information, by two members of the Hells Angels of the South and Quebec sections.

The company, which does not declare any activity, would represent, according to our information, around forty different motorcycle clubs, for a total of around 700 individuals.

Several of the clubs display MC letters on their jackets, for Motorcycle cluband some also wear 1 %diamond, symbol of criminal biker groups.

“The coalition is managed by the Hells Angels. This is the coalition that decides which club can display MC letters. Coalition members are forced to meet once a year. They send one or two members per chapter and they have rules to follow: who has the right to carry the letters MC, which is a matter of which chapter, and this is where they regulate the territories, the dimensions, the regulations, etc. The Hells Angels use the coalition and supporter clubs to increase their influence, ”explains Chief Inspector Viviers.

A succession that has no motorcycle

It is also in these school clubs and sympathizers that the Hells Angels recruit new members and, contrary to what has circulated in recent years, they have no difficulty in maintaining or swelling their workforce.

According to our information, they currently have eight aspirants (prospects) and new hang around In their five Quebec sections (Montreal, Quebec, Trois-Rivières, Sherbrooke and South), including six for the three-Rivières section.

“The Hells Angels have no recruitment problem, because in the criminal community, they are still prestigious. There is a certain stability in the number of members. After Sharqc, it had dropped, but it always revolves around a hundred, “says Pierre-Mathieu Viviers.

“They take less risks in their recruitment. They take people close to them, either family or they have known for a long time. We feel that they have tightened their criteria and no longer recruit anyone, ”continues the intelligence chief at the SQ.

Recruitment is also important in sympathizing clubs. The marauders, sponsored by the Hells Angels of Montreal, among which we find former gang chief Jean-Philippe Célestin, went from 9 to 25 members in 2024 only. Some of them would never have driven a motorcycle and had to obtain their license to be able to drive one.

To reach Daniel Renaud, compose 514 285-7000, post 4918, write to drenaud@lapresse.ca or write to the postal address The press.