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On trial is David Francis Giles, 58, a full-patch member of the Hells Angels East End chapter, who is accused of possessing cocaine for the purpose of trafficking "for the benefit of, at the direction of, or in association with a criminal organization, to wit: the East End chapter of the Hells Angels."
The case stems from a two-year, $10-million police investigation that resulted in charges against 18 men, including six Hells Angels, in July 2005.
It was the largest police probe in B.C. to target the East End chapter of the Hells Angels, long considered to be the wealthiest and most sophisticated biker gang in the province.
The central issue at trial is whether the chapter is a criminal organization, which was alleged in an indictment filed July 11, 2005, by Canada's deputy attorney general.
If the Crown succeeds in its criminal-organization prosecution, it could put the assets of all the chapter's members - real estate holdings, cars and motorcycles -- at risk of seizure under B.C.'s Civil Forfeiture Act.
It could also make it easier to seize property in future trials involving Hells Angels and other gangs, although the criminal-organization case would have to be made each time.
In their investigation, code-named Project Epandora, police used a nightclub bouncer to infiltrate the motorcycle club.
The man, Michael Plante, applied to become a Hells Angels member and was accepted "in the program" as an official friend of the club.
Mr. Plante, who was promised $1 million by police, testified at an earlier trial that he was given keys to the East End chapter's clubhouse and carried out illegal activity on behalf of Hells Angels members.
Mr. Plante now lives under a new name but is not in witness protection. When he surfaced in 2006, he was 30. He has been paid half his fee -- $500,000 -- and will get the other half after he finishes testifying in various trials.
The charges alleged in the indictments include methamphetamine production and distribution, cocaine trafficking, weapons offences, explosives offences, assaults, extortions and possession of proceeds of crime.
In total, police seized more than 20 kilograms each of methamphetamine and cocaine; more than 70 kilograms of marijuana; restricted and prohibited weapons, including five handguns and fully automatic weapons with silencers; 11 sticks of dynamite with detonation cord and blasting caps; four grenades and an assortment of ammunition.
Police also seized more than $200,000, 250 kilograms of methylamine, a precursor chemical for the production of ecstasy, and two methamphetamine laboratories.
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