The bikers will hold their biggest rally in the country from August 9th 2018.
The Saint-Hyacinthe region will host in a month the largest gathering of Hells Angels in the country.
This annual event, called Canada Run, explains why at least 350 hotel rooms have been booked in this city of the Montérégie and the surrounding area, between August 9 and 11, the newspaper Le Journal de Sources Police.
Concentrated bikers
The event could draw more than 700 bikers from across the country, as was the case at previous editions held in Calgary, Alberta, during the summer of 2017, and in Carlsbad Springs, near Ottawa, in July 2016.
On the phone yesterday, no employee of three of these hotels was inclined to discuss this future clientele.
The details of the festivities and the places where the bikers plan to regroup have not yet been announced.
Since Operation SharQc, the Hells Angels of Quebec have lost their bunkers and have to find other places to receive their visit. Last December, they celebrated their 40th anniversary in a sugar shack in Saint-Marc-sur-Richelieu, also in Montérégie.
The Hells at the Expo
By the end of July 2017, the Hells had also made a name for themselves in Saint-Hyacinthe, settling on the Expo agricultural site for several days to sell clothes supporting the biker gang.
Following a report from the Journal , the Expo management had expelled the Hells' promotional trailer, which was also chased off the Rockfest of Montebello after a police visit last month.
Inspector Guy Lapointe, communications manager at the Sûreté du Québec, assured that "no matter where [Canada Run] will take place, the police will be present in large numbers".
"We'll have them to watch. They like to display their colors in public, but we will display ours, "he said yesterday.
The last time the Hells of Quebec hosted Canada Run 10 years ago, activities were held in Saint-Pie, near Saint-Hyacinthe, on a campsite, and at the Sanair Race Track.
This time, the Hells will not meet in Sanair, according to the site owner.
"Nobody contacted me. But we had bikers here last year and the mayor warned me, "said Jacques Guertin, referring to the Thunder Bike Show which had attracted several Hells and members of their sympathizer clubs in August 2017.
This shocked Mayor Mario St-Pierre, whose municipality had granted a permit to developers without knowing that the Hells would be expected.
The Hells dominate organized crime in Canada, police said. They have about 450 members in seven provinces - including 80 in Quebec where they control the drug market - which is more than all the other biker clubs in the country.