MONTREAL - Police in Quebec say they're ready if any other organized crime groups try to fill the void in the drug trade following the arrests of 156 Hells Angels and their associates.
The RCMP and Quebec provincial police say the arrests are the culmination of more than 80 investigations going back to 1995.
Police also seized five Hells Angels bunkers throughout the province on Wednesday and claim they shut down the biker gang's East Coast operation.
The accused face charges including first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder and gangsterism.
Top police officials held a news conference Thursday to discuss the results of Operation SharQc 2009, the acronym for Strategy Hells Angels Region of Quebec.
Chief Insp. Jocelyn Latulippe said he's confident police forces will be able to make sure no other groups take the place of the notorious biker gang.
"We have a lot of personnel involved in intelligence so I think we are ready to make sure we will not again face the same cancer as the Hells Angels," said Latulippe, director of the Quebec provincial police's criminal investigations operation.
"We wanted to chop off the head of a criminal organization that was well-structured and that was representing a threat to many sectors of the economy."
Police said the operation helped them solve 21 murders, 10 cases of attempted murder or conspiracy to commit murder, and five cases of arson.
Authorities also seized $300,000, a considerable amount of marijuana, hundreds of kilograms of cocaine and 52 vehicles, mostly Harley-Davidson motorcycles.
They were still looking for another 28 suspects as of Thursday.
Latulippe also said the link between the Hells Angels and street gangs will be revealed in the coming days and during the trials of the accused.
The alleged offences go back to 1992 when, according to police, the biker gang was involved in drug trafficking and gangsterism.
But most of the murder charges are related to Quebec's biker war between 1994 and 2002.
The biker-gang violence also claimed innocent victims.
"In days to come we will meet the families and we will try to give them the necessary support," Latulippe said.
Meanwhile, RCMP Supt. Martin Morin admitted police still have to deal with the Hell Angels on the West Coast.
"With the help of information we're getting, we're continuing to follow them and we will determine the opportune moment when we will intervene on a global scale like we did in Quebec," he said.
"The Hells Angels (still) occupy an important place in crime."
