Mounties in a Victoria suburb have issued a public warning about a gang clubhouse being constructed just one block away from a school.
The Devil’s Army, a close affiliate of the Hell’s Angels, is setting up shop on Spencer Road in Langford, according to the RCMP.
The property is easily recognizable by large signs marked with the number 41, representing the fourth and first letters of the alphabet – D and A.
Mounties haven’t found any evidence of criminal activity at the clubhouse, but said local and regional officers will be monitoring the situation closely.
Politicians are also sending a strong message to the people who meet there.
“They’re not welcome,” Langford Mayor Stew Young said. “Obviously the police don’t want them in our community and neither do the residents.”
The Devil’s Army is headquartered on Vancouver Island, but there are a number of suspected Hell’s Angels affiliates that have popped up across B.C.
Experts believe smaller affiliate and puppet gangs do much of the street-level crime for major organizations, keeping law enforcement away from the real players.
The strategy doesn’t always work, however. Police put significant resources into tracking gangs, and three years ago a Hell’s Angels clubhouse in Kelowna was raided, quashing a cocaine deal worth a whopping $15 million.
Mounties have encouraged anyone with information about criminal activity at the Spencer Road clubhouse to contact the West Shore RCMP detachment at 250-474-2264 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS.
With a report from CTV Vancouver’s Scott Roberts
