Informants help in Hells Angels sweep

MONTREAL, April 16 (UPI) -- A massive sweep of Canadian Hells Angels members and associates in Quebec was made possible by at least three inside informers, police said.

The Gazette newspaper in Montreal said information from one senior member of the motorcycle gang and two junior members enabled police to make Wednesday's sweep and arrest 123 people on murder, drug and organized crime charges.

Some 1,200 police officers executed 177 search warrants in Quebec and New Brunswick related to 22 drug turf-war murders that took place between 1992 and 2009.

Of the 156 people named in warrants, 33 were not arrested. Quebec provincial police said they believed they were in France and the Dominican Republic, where the Hells Angels in Quebec recently established a chapter, The Gazette said.

All arrested in the sweep were to remain in custody until bail hearings begin next week, the report said.

The Hells Angels have five chapters in Quebec, and each of their clubhouses were seized as part of the raid, police said.