WHEN Normand “Biff? Hamel took his wife and daughter to an appointment at a Laval, Quebec, medical centre last week, he wasn’t taking the pre- cautions his position demanded. As he crossed the parking lot he suddenly twigged to the men paying an inordi- nate amount of attention to him. When the penny dropped, so did the hammer. He began to run and was cut down, felled by nwo gun- shots. In 1985 Hamel was a prospect of the Montreal chapter of the Hells Angels when a move was made within the group to relieve itself of a thorn in its collec- tive side. The Montreal North chapter had to be dealt with. They were gar- nering too much heat and spent too much time using the gang’s products. The Angels of the Montreal chapter threw a party at the Lennoxviile clubhouse in their own inim- itable style. Six dead mem- bers later, the bodies were wrapped in sleeping bags and chains and tossed into the St. Lawrence River. Hamel stood guard at the gate that night. One of the North chapter members, Yves “Apache” Trudeau, had the remarkable foresight to give a pass to the soiree at the Lennoxville clubhouse. Hamel was given the task of finding Trudeau and getting, back his colours. A successful conclusion guar- anteed Hamel full-patch sta- tus. He tracked Trudeau, a heavy cocaine user, to a detox centre in Oka. The “rookie” told the veteran of 43 murders between 1970 and 1985; he was out. He told Trudeau to remove his Death’s Head tattoo. Trudeau accepted his defrocking, but he wanted to get his Harley back and a stake of $46,000 cash he had laid down. But he had to pay a price for this, Hamel con- veyed the message to him that he had to take care of a couple of witnesses to the Lennoxville carnage. Trudeau only managed to get one of the persons when he got his chestnuts in another fire and became the first full-patch member of the Hells Angels to become a police informant. . Hamel was to gain from his assistance in cleaning up after the Lennoxville mess. He got his patch and went on to become one of the charter members of the Nomad chapter in Quebec and a chief lieutenant to Maurice “Mom” Boucher, the de facto head of che gang in Quebec. Oh, he had his knocks. He was accused of offences relating to murder a couple Correction Notice In our 3-4 Warming Trends flyer, the Northern Spirit capri pants shown on page 13 will be late - rainchecks will be available at the store. Sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused - Leo Knight crime and punishment of times. But he always man- aged to scrape away. he almost didn’t. He was in custody charged with con- spiracy in the murder of Robert *Bob Electric” Boileau. While he was being held in custody, a plot to kill him by five fellow inmates was broken up by authori- ties. You see, as a major plaver in the Hells Angels in Quebec, Hamel was intri- cately involved in the illegal distribution of all kinds of drugs in the province and into Ontario and the Maritimes. The drug trade is controlled by what ts called the Consortium consisting of the Angels, the Rizzuto fam- ily and the West End gang, the so-called Irish mafia. Since 1994, 2 group of outlaws calling themselves the Rock Machine have been trying to intrude on che ter- ritory. In 1998, severely depleted by the war of attri- tion, the Rock Machine sought and gained an alliance with the second largest hike gang in the world, the Texas: based Bandidas, ‘They obtained support club status and now wear the Red and Gold of the “Bandits.” Since the war started in 1994, the Rock Machine bad been unable to get at the “fall-patch™ members of the Hells Angels. The Angels use puppet gangs to do much of their dirty work. And there's no shortage of wannabees eager to prove their worth in order to get their shor at the big prize: the monev to be made once full-patch status is obtained. That's why the killing of Hamed is so significant and toa degree, amazing. Hamel became the 135th victim of the war with the Rock Machine. He died on Monday. Before he was buried on Friday, there were two more, On Wednesday the body of Francis Carriere, an asso- ciate of the Rockers, a sup- port club of the Angels, was found dead in Piedmont, Quebec. A day later, the body of Salvatore Gervasi turned up stuffed in the trunk of his Porsche. Gervasi was a former associate of the Rock Machine who had been recruited by elements of the Angels to switch sides. On Friday, at Hamel’s funeral, “Mom” Boucher, acquitted last vear of the killing of wo corrections officers, was seen talking, with Alain Dubois, a mem ber of the Rockers and the son of Jean-Guy Dubois, one of the nine brother Dubois family who ruled the streets of Montreal with iron fists, suns and bombs in the ‘70s. Se powertitt have the Angels become in the crimi- nal underworld that the Dubots family is no longer a factor and the son of one is merely a member of a pup- pet gang of the Hells Angels. As a chief lieutenant to Boucher, Hamel must have known he was a target. To be caught and ambushed without the back-up support of prospects or puppet gang members is very surprising. A biker’s funeral is an extremely imparcant event in the outlaw world. A man as important as Hamel drew Hells Angels from all over North America including British Columbia and some from Europe. The Angels will not let this past week go unnoticed. The Angels have an expression, “takin’ care of business.” It’s a creed with them and means they collec- tively fight whatever gets in the way of their business. The events of last week Wednesday, Apri! 26, 2000 ~ North Shore News - 7 promise a long hot summer. | Takin’ care of Canada’s outlaw biker business a car bomb detonated. This is the real world of the “bunch of good oF bo who just like to ride bikes. — iknightGdirect.ca Let's hope no innocents get caught in the crosstire like the L]-year-old boy killed in 1995 as he walked by just as bee eee 21 pt Safety check, 15 munutes - FAST! j includes up to 5 Iitres of 1Ow30 Quakerstate 1362 Marine Drive 980-9115 [ivovsat 8.00ar-6:.00pm, Sun 9:00am-5:00pm —- Expires May 3/2000 J Laser Printer Service on the North Shore Expert Service at your office or ours. 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