Last Friday, on the 10th of January, police embarked on setting forth a raid on the Hells Angels MC Herouxville clubhouse. The building belongs to the Trois-Rivieres chapter of the motorcycle club. This comes nearly two months after a police raid on the Satan’s Crew clubhouse raid in Becancour, a town located on the south shore of Trois-Rivieres. The Becancour raid brought on two arrests and yielded two handguns, a bulletproof vest and multiple biker cuts. The two arrests were made up of two club members, each in possession of a handgun.
The Satan’s Crew raid was initiated by the ERM (Regional Mixed Squad), a task squad with their iron sights aimed at organized crime, comprising of forces from several different counties in the province. The ERM would also play a critical role in the Hells Angels clubhouse seizure that would occur last Friday (10/01/2025), almost deploying it as a sequel to the Satan’s Crew clubhouse seizure and arrests.
It began last Friday, at 8:30pm, where nearly 90 officers rolled up on the red and white clubhouse, consisting of two buildings. 16 individuals were present at the clubhouse at that very time, all aged between 27 and 71. It is unknown whether they were partaking in a get-together, or if this was just an ordinary Friday night. The raid reflected the warrant on the Satan’s Crew clubhouse in November, with very few seizures and even less arrests. Almost portraying the fact that authorities did not have any solid proof or even any idea of what they were searching for. Who was the judge that approved this search warrant? Were the facts presented to him even worthy of issuing a warrant in the first place?
A handful of amphetamines and one sole firearm seems to be a reach for using taxpayer money to deploy over 90 police officers. Sure, the HAMC is in the midst of a drug war, the bikers had its clubhouse shot at and targeted in the last year, but does it really warrant such a massive police operation? “Reach” would be the perfect verb to describe these past two raids brought on by the ERM (Regional Mixed Squad). High expectations with little result. An excuse to ransack jewelry and patches for police glorification.
So what exactly was seized last Friday? A shotgun, a telescopic nightstick, pepper spray, 4 knives, pill tablets of methamphetamine, 30 grams of mushrooms and 2300$. Authorities also sacked 975 liters of alcohol and raided HAMC clothes, patches and even jewelry. A 67-year-old man was arrested and held until he passed in court this Monday in Shawinigan. A 45-year-old man is awaiting to see if he will face charges for being in possession of a prohibited firearm. Another man, 68, is awaiting the same for being in possession of methamphetamine with intent to traffic.
These seizures come after the HAMC’s clubhouse on Rang Saint-Pierre was target to gunshots on the night of September 18th only a few months ago. The Trois-Rivieres chapter also made the news when Jack Simpson started prospecting for the HAMC at 82-years-old. Simpson is no stranger to the underworld, an associate to Raynald Desjardins, being acquainted with both bikers and the mafia. Simpson served time in the penitentiary for the murder of prominent mafia figure, Salvatore ‘Sal the Iron Worker’ Montagna.
So, are authorities going too far with their tactics in tackling bikers in the Mauricie region of Quebec? Or have the two raids in the past few months been warranted?
