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Geschrieben von Katrin am 26.07.2008 um 11:44:

  Hells Angels still rule in Vancouver

VANCOUVER ? As a bloody gang war plays out on Vancouver streets, the quarter-century-old Hells Angels are quietly maintaining an empire that?s as powerful as ever, says an expert in biker gangs.

Hundreds of members of the notorious biker gang are gathering at the Hells Angels clubhouse in Langley, B.C., this weekend to mark the 25th anniversary of the first chapters established in British Columbia, in Vancouver, Nanaimo and White Rock.

The gathering offers a rare public glimpse at the Angels, who take pains to avoid attention and, says author Yves Lavigne, have long abandoned the high-profile killings that have recently put Vancouver?s street gangs under renewed scrutiny.

?The shootings are all new gangs and new members ? they still have a lot of punks that like to throw their weight around,? says Lavigne, who has written several books on the Hells Angels.

?They (the Hells Angels) have become more powerful, and the more money they have, they more silent they can be.?

Dozens of people have been killed in recent years in what police have called targeted, gang-related shootings.

http://www.saultstar.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1130661