 | Of the 156 Hells Angels members arrested and charged during the SharQc sweep, the overwhelming majority have either been released or had their sentences reduced because of unreasonable delays and crucial evidence being withheld by prosecutors. Quebec Superior Court Judge James Brunton found that allowing the trial of 31 Hells Angels to continue would infringe on thier basic Charter rights. Brunton placed the blame squarely on prosecutors for "simply assuming" that the justice system could process such a huge trial. It could not. The Crown appealed the decision, but the Supreme Court of Canada sided with Brunton, upholding his initial stay of proceedings. |  |
 | Once-shuttered Hells Angels charters are re-opening and police are observing more criminal activity from biker gangs who now seem eager to flaunt their patches in public. Montreal's mafia—once at the top of the province's criminal pyramid is in disarray, with fire bombings, murders, and reports of infighting becoming an almost daily occurrence. Underlying the violent is the decline of the Rizzuto family and speculation about who could be next to challenge their central role in the province's drug trade. For decades, the Hells Angels were the driving force in Quebec's drug trade, taking care of distribution across the province, while the mafia took care of importation. |
 | Experts say there's a new alliance between the Hells Angels and the Calabrian Ndrangheta based out of Ontario ... a shift after four decades of Sicilian dominance. "The Rizzuto family are out of the game," he says. "They're not in control at the moment, The Calabrians are in control now." Hells Angels learned many lessons from SharQc. Their old role using violence and intimidation, something that defined them, will need to give way to more sophisticated enterprises, because their old way of doing business is "too risky" to gangsterism charges. They will also be relying on puppet clubs like the Red Devils, Dark Souls, and Devils Ghosts. Experts say this means more "renting" out drug turf to younger biker gangs to take over day-to-day operations. Under this arrangement, the Hells Angels will be paid a regular "tribute," much like the Mafia. |  |
