Quebec Hells Angels roundup crowds jails

MONTREAL, April 20 (UPI) -- Inmates of Canadian jails in and around Montreal are sleeping on floors after a major sweep of Hells Angels motorcycle club members netted 156 new prisoners.

Suzanne Gravel, an advocate for prisoners' rights in Quebec, told the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. the various jails were already overcrowded before last week's clampdown on the biker gang on homicide and drug charges.

She said the sudden influx of new inmates was straining staff and services for the prisoners.

Inmate Villano Bayanni told the CBC by telephone he spent 18 days sleeping on the gymnasium floor before the raids. He said the arrangement is called camping, and when he finally was assigned a cell to await deportation, he still had to sleep on the floor.

All of the 156 people charged last week will remain jailed until bail hearings begin later this month, officials said.