Criminal Law: Organized Crime in Canada Report 2022

Running head: CRIMINAL LAW
CRIMINAL LAW
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Introduction
Organized crime in Canada has always been a threat towards the society. With time the
organized crime groups are seen to becoming more sophisticated and mobile. In the Criminal
Code of Canada Organized crime has been defined as a group consisting of three or more people
whose main intention is to be committing one or more serious offence that would likely be
resulting in directly or indirectly receiving material benefits by that group. In this essay a
thorough research has been done about the prevalence of organized crime groups in Canada and
which one of them can be considered as a major threat to the public safety in 2020. The group
selected for discussion in this essay is the Hell’s Angel.
Organized Crime Group
Organized crime group can be defined as a group consisting of three or more people
committing serious offences for the purpose of receiving material or monetary benefits
(Albanese, 2014). There are many such groups operating in Canada. They are considered as a
major threat to the safety of the people of the country. Most of these gangs have been involved in
serious and violent crimes like, sex trafficking, drug dealing, murder, theft, extortion, trafficking
of illegal goods, human trafficking, prostitution, terrorism, money laundering, counterfeiting,
gambling, kidnapping and many similar crimes (Paoli, 2014). The associations with organized
crime among the Canadian people are seen to be more prevalent than even the Italian crime
association. For a long time it was not believed that the organized crime groups were capable of
conducting sophisticated operations. However during the 1970s because of various court cases,
the inquiries of Quebec about the Mafia, a series of Mob killings and an overly publicized report

2CRIMINAL LAW
of the Waisberg Commission about the construction violence, the public came to know about the
presence of highly organized criminal networks in Canada.
Hell’s Angel
Of all the organized crime groups in Canada, Hell’s Angel can be seen as one of the most
powerful gangs present in the country (Barker, 2014). The Hell’s Angels is a motorcycle gang
who, according to numerous police reports and the reports of the international intelligence
agencies, are guilty of carrying out many widespread and violent crimes such as drug dealing,
trafficking in stolen goods, gun-running, and extortion, and are involved in prostitution (Sher &
Marsden, 2010). As per a recent report a high-level drug trafficking investigation called the
Project Skylark, the members of the most notorious bike gangs including the Hells Angels had
been targeted. 18 search warrants were executed through which large quantities of illegal drugs
were seized along with cash, jewelries, vehicles and the patches of the Hells Angels and other
groups were found (Global News, 2019).
Although there had been various accusations members of the organization were seen to
be continuously asserting that they are only a group of motorcycle enthusiasts joining the
organization for riding motorcycles together, organizing social events such as group road trips,
fundraisers, parties, and motorcycle rallies, and that any crimes are the responsibility of the
individuals who have been carrying them out and not of the organization as a whole. However
the members of this gang have been accused and convicted of many crimes even in other nations
such as Australia, South Africa, Belgium, Portugal, United Kingdom and several other nations.