Investigator not shocked over Terror Squad, Hells Angels link

Jul 26, 2013 | 6:08 AM

The Saskatoon Police Service isn’t surprised there is a link between the Terror Squad and the Hells Angels.

“It certainly brings our interest up,” said detective-inspector Jerome Engele with the Saskatoon Police Service.

“Why are you meeting with these people and why are you talking with them? What associations do you have with them? Why do you have that association? We certainly want to have all those answers because those are questions I throw to my investigators and I want all those questions answered.”

A link between the two organizations led to the leader of the Terror Squad, Darren Harper, to have his parole revoked.

The 41-year-old was sent back to prison after being seen with a Hells Angel member, violating the conditions of his release.

But this doesn’t come to a surprise for Engele, who said it’s in a criminal organization’s best interest, just as any other business, to have ties with other groups, simply from a survival perspective.

“Look at the normal working business relationships of any business in the city, in order for them to survive you need to have a relationship with other business and that’s no different in the criminal world,” Engele said.

“In the drug world you have to have connections to move your product, to be able to get rid of stuff. You might be the guy that does the break-ins, but then you have a guy to help you move the stuff.”

This connection also doesn’t provoke any sort of changes as to how Engele and his various police departments conduct investigations.

“We’re investigating people all the time for various offences and if a person’s name comes up we see if there’s a link so it doesn’t change the way we’re policing,” Engele said. “We follow the evidence.”

With Harper’s prison term drawing to a close in the next two to three months, Engele isn’t jumping to conclusions as to what may follow on the streets of Saskatoon. It’s going to be business as usual as far as he’s concerned.

“We’re not surprised with that and we will proceed with investigations. Whatever comes in front of us, we’ll deal with it.

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