Category: Gangs in the news…

Feud with Hells Angels members heats up on Durham biker’s social feeds: ‘I’m not scared’

This month in Durham, Satan’s Choice motorcycle club leader Harley Guindon, 39, waged a withering online offensive against two Oshawa-area bikers.

Updated 4 hrs ago
Sept. 15, 2025
3 min read

y Peter EdwardsStaff Reporter

A war of words is playing out on social media between rival bikers in Durham, adding barbed comments on TikTok and Facebook to more traditional tools like fists, guns and bombs.

This month in Durham, Satan’s Choice motorcycle club leader Harley Guindon, 39, waged a withering online offensive against two Oshawa-area bikers.

Guindon repeatedly posted attacks saying they were unworthy of membership in any outlaw motorcycle club, and had campaigned for their exclusion from the Hells Angels.

Guindon declined to comment and the bikers could not be reached for comment.

Guindon’s social media offensive included repeated attempts to goad them into a real-life confrontation, including repeated use of the prison slang term “goof,” considered a direct attack on their masculinity.

“You can’t even hide with a VPN,” Guindon said in a Facebook post earlier this month, mocking the two Hells Angels.

“Pair of unbecoming goofs,” Guindon posted on TikTok this month. “Called you all on a week ago and it was all over the internet and I’m going to continue to make noise until you come and meet me on my (expletive) lawn so I can bang both of you guys out at the same time like it’s the 1960s.”

Guindon’s father, Bernie, was the president of the outlaw biker gang Satan’s Choice four decades ago.
He also boxed for Canada in the Pan Am Games, winning a bronze medal.

The term “one percenter” refers to motorcycle enthusiasts who say they are not necessarily criminal, but choose to live under their own code, which staunchly protects its own brand.

The Hells Angels take the term particularly seriously. They are the original motorcycle club, formed in 1948 in California by U.S. servicemen returning from World War II, who were restless in civilian life and seeking the brotherhood they experienced during wartime.

The now-global Hells Angels’ organization has been declared a criminal enterprise in multiple jurisdictions, including Ontario and Quebec, meaning longer prison terms for crimes considered gang related.

That makes it tough to physically cross borders, so some have taken to the internet.

Guindon is using the internet to revive the Satan’s Choice, the club his father founded in the 1960s.

Satan’s Choice claims its social media blitz has helped it rocket up to 350 members since its revival this summer.

The club claims it now has members from coast to coast in Canada, as well as in 10 American states and Costa Rica.

“Congratulations to my Quebec brothers,” Guindon wrote online. “Great group of men. Very excited to ride beside you for the rest of my life. L&R. (Love and Respect).”

“Congratulations Hamilton. It’s Steel City time!!!!”

In his online feud with the Oshawa bikers, Guindon repeatedly said they are a disgrace to the brand of all one-percenters.
“A goof,” Guindon posted earlier this month on Facebook. “Still being a little bottom feeder.”

A cardinal rule in the one-percentre subculture is not to lie to a fellow member and Guindon’s posts said the two bikers were repeat offenders.

“You’re a (expletive) liar,” Guindon said in a post. “You don’t (expletive) follow the same (expletive) rules that you should. There’s a (expletive) line, right and wrong.

“I wouldn’t be mad if I didn’t have a reason to be mad. You’re a pair of (expletive) goofs that don’t belong to wear the patch and now I’ve got to do things my way.

“I’ve called you on. You know my number … You know where I work. You know where I live. Do something (expletive).”

In the post, Guindon has his shirt off, revealing tattoos made when he was a member of the Hells Angels and tattooed the club’s crest across his belly.

“Let’s end this internet (expletive),” Guindon wrote. “Do what you should. This is pathetic.”

The OPP has cautioned about buying biker support gear from feuding biker clubs and wandering into the line of fire in any hostilities between them.

In the midst of the online hostilities with the Oshawa bikers, Guindon accused them of using artificial intelligence to conjure up bogus court documents that make it seem like he is co-operating with the legal system.

Earlier this month, Guindon posted what he says are AI generated, fake legal documents that suggest he was co-operating with police. He points out suspicious font changes and phrasing that point to a ham-handed attempt at forgery.

Guindon wrote: “If you’re going to make Al paperwork boy make sure you do it properly lmao wow you guys are pathetic.”

He added that the supposed police documents refer to him by his first name, noting “police do not refer to persons by their first name.”
Guindon also accuses his online biker enemies of filing attacks against him while hiding behind fake profiles.

“Save your bs fake profiles,” Guindon wrote. “Understand I don’t care and I’m not scared.”

For real online insiders, there’s also a subscriber’s only forum, which promises particularly juicy information about Guindon’s enemies.
“Confessions of a scarred sex worker tomorrow at 7 a.m. on the subscribers only personal page,” a post reads.

Despite their outlaw leanings, the U.S.-based Hells Angels are particularly sensitive about rules and brand issues, copyrighting their name and winged skull “death head” insignia.

That includes sometimes taking legal action against upscale retailers like Saks Inc. to block them from selling jewelry, handbags and other accessories with names like “Hells Angels Pashmina,” “Hells Angels Jacquard Box Dress” and “Hells Knuckle Duster.”

They’ve also sued over what they considered brand infringement regarding domain names, posters, yo-yos and Marvel comic books.

They even went to court in 2006 against Walt Disney Co. to keep their name and logo out of the film “Wild Hogs,” starring John Travolta and Tim Allen as middle-aged bikers.

Key witness in Hells Angel trial became paid police informant after losing $400K in drug money, court told

By: Dean PritchardPosted: 6:13 PM CDT Monday, Sep. 15, 2025Last Modified: 7:46 PM CDT Monday, Sep. 15, 2025 | Updates

Key witness in Hells Angel trial became paid police informant after losing $400K in drug money, court told

A career criminal who helped police dismantle a massive drug-trafficking operation and bust a full-patch Hells Angels gangster became a paid police informant after he lost nearly $400,000 in a money-laundering scheme, a trial heard Monday.

The man, who is in witness protection and can be identified only as “Agent 66,” is the Crown’s star witness in the case against B.C. Hells Angel Damion Ryan, the alleged leader of one of five Canadian and international drug networks taken down by Manitoba RCMP in February 2022.
Agent 66 — who court heard is in his 40s and has been involved in the drug trade since he was 12 — said he enlisted his drug supplier to “clean” $368,000 in drug proceeds and “never got it back.

“I was angry,” he told court. “The whole point of cleaning it was I wanted out of (drug dealing).”

The man said he was in a Manitoba jail in 2018 and 2019 when he became an informant for an unidentified police agency that later introduced him to the RCMP.

“They wanted to know who I was connected with and who I was able to get drugs from,” he told court. “I gave them everybody at that time I thought I could.”

Agent 66 was released from jail in early 2019 and a year later signed an informant agreement with RCMP, becoming a key part of an investigation dubbed Project Divergent, which would eventually lead to his introduction to Damion Ryan.

Ryan, in his mid-40s, is accused of conspiring to sell cocaine, meth and fentanyl and possessing the proceeds of crime for the benefit or under the direction of the Wolf Pack Alliance, an organized-crime group comprised of various high-level Canadian gangsters and drug traffickers.

Project Divergent netted Manitoba RCMP the largest ever drug seizure at the time: 110 kilograms of cocaine, more than 40 kilograms methamphetamine, three kilograms of fentanyl, 500 grams of MDMA, as well as 19 guns and more than $445,000 in cash.

Under his initial agreement, Agent 66 was to be paid $1,100 a week, with police paying for his housing and car, and a total of $580,000 after he testified in court and all legal proceedings had been completed.

Agent 66 said he renegotiated his payout to $900,000 after Ryan became a target of the investigation.

“The key players had changed and I felt I was more at risk moving forward, so I asked for a bigger pay,” he testified.

Agent 66’s cellphone conversations and in-person meetings with criminal targets were recorded by police. The agent took screenshots of text messages he received from the targets and kept notes of his dealings, both of which were quickly provided to his police handlers.

Agent 66’s first target was Project Divergent accused Andre Steele, who he had met while in custody in 2018.

“I knew that he dealt with cocaine and other drugs,” he testified. “He was also very verbal on the (jail) phone when I was there, making deals loud enough within earshot.”

The man said he later became aware of Ryan and his connection to the Hells Angels after he “liked” one of Steele’s Facebook posts. He showed the post to his police handlers.

Agent 66 and Steele were both out of custody on Nov. 23, 2020, when, in a cellphone conversation recorded by police, Agent 66 discussed purchasing 30 ounces of methamphetamine and pressed a man alleged to be Steele to connect him to his supplier.

The man resisted the request, telling the agent: “My guy is part of the Wolf Pack”

“The guy that we work for is a full-patch gangster, and I’m not dying for anybody,” the man told the informant.

After further prodding, the man alleged to be Steele agreed to connect the informant with his supplier – a man further up the criminal chain, but not Ryan – in exchange for $10,000.

The agent met the man Dec. 16, 2020, outside a Vancouver restaurant, where the agent brokered a deal to purchase three kilograms of methamphetamine.

In a conversation recorded months later, the informant asked the man alleged to be Steele if he could help him “hook up with Damion” so he could purchase Hells Angels support gear, clothing that signalled support for the biker gang.

The man said he would contact Ryan on the informant’s behalf, saying Ryan was “kind of exclusive.”

The informant is expected to be on the witness stand until at least the end of the week.

Hearing underway for Saskatoon police officer fired because of friendship with Hells Angels associate

Former Sgt. Robbie Taylor is fighting to get his job back

Dan Zakreski · CBC News · Posted: Sep 16, 2025 8:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 10 hours ago
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatoon/saskatoon-police-hell-s-angels-1.7634591

An independent hearing started in Saskatoon on Monday that is going to determine who police officers should be able to call friends.

Former Sgt. Robbie Taylor was fired in March because of a relationship with a man who was an associate of the Hells Angels biker gang. He appealed the firing and an independent mediator is hearing the facts of the dismissal from both sides.

Ronni Nordal is the mediator in the case, which will hear from multiple witnesses including Chief Cameron McBride.

Taylor’s lawyer Brian Pfefferle said Taylor “was fired for having an association with an individual who allegedly has associations with other individuals who are members of outlaw motorcycle clubs.”

“So friends of friends are people that the police service does not want him associating with. And we say it’s far removed and it’s something that that there shouldn’t be an association concern there.”

Ashley Smith, the Saskatoon Police Service lawyer, said the issue is whether Taylor’s “undesirable association” made him suitable to be a police officer.

She said that Chief Cameron McBride concluded that Taylor was compromised by the relationship “and there was a loss of trust and confidence.”

Smith called police gang analyst Matthew Matieshin, who knew Taylor professionally for more than a decade and who had misgivings about his relationship with the biker associate. A publication ban is in place protecting the identity of Taylor’s friend.

Matieshin said in early 2023 he learned that the man was an associate of the Hells Angels through surveillance of the bike gang at various events. Later that same year, Matieshin learned from a different officer — who also knew the man as an associate of the Angels — that Taylor had tried to intervene when his friend was pulled over in a traffic stop. Taylor told the officer that the man was his friend and asked that he not write him a ticket.

The officer wrote the ticket, and then contacted Matieshin.

“I thought it was inappropriate that he inserted himself into a traffic investigation.” Matieshin said.
“It was concerning, and should be documented.”

Matieshin said that, a year later, Taylor came into his office and offered some information on a Hells Angel “prospect,” an individual undergoing a probationary period to become a full member of a motorcycle club. Through this discussion, Taylor revealed that he had a friend who was friends with bikers.

Matieshin said Taylor did not hide the friendship, or the man’s connections to the Hells Angels. Furthermore, Taylor said he’d gone on a holiday to Ireland with the associate and had accepted an expensive watch as a gift.

The hearing continues on Tuesday and is expected to run all week.

Pagan Motorcycle Club murder suspect on home confinement after being granted bond

by: Sam Kirk WBOY Posted: Sep 16, 2025
https://www.wboy.com/news/marion/pagan-motorcycle-club-murder-suspect-on-home-confinement-after-being-granted-bond/

FAIRMONT, W.Va. (WBOY) — After a mistrial was declared earlier this month, Marion County murder suspect Ryan Lane has been granted bond by a Circuit Court judge.

During a motion hearing on Tuesday, Judge Patrick Wilson granted Lane $500,000 cash/surety bond. As part of the conditions of the bond, $50,000 of that must be secured by a professional bondsman and has to be done with property, and Lane cannot have any direct or indirect contact with other members of the Pagan Motorcycle Club.

Until the conditions of the bond are met, Lane is being held on home confinement.

Lane was one of six Pagan Motorcycle Club Members charged in the September 2022 shooting of Henry Silver in Carolina, West Virginia. After Lane’s 10-day trial at the end of August and beginning of September, the jury was deadlocked on all counts, and the judge declared a mistrial.

If there is a new trial, it will be held starting Jan. 20, 2026.

Lafayette biker gang member to serve 50-year sentence

STAFF REPORTS Purdue Exponent September 14, 2025
https://www.purdueexponent.org/city_state/crime/lafayette-biker-gang-member-half-century-incarceration/article_b3185aec-6129-4de6-a5c4-3ca0e25bcc5e.html

A Lafayette motorcycle gang member was sentenced Friday to half a century behind bars after pleading guilty to two counts of aggravated battery and one count of criminal organization activity.

Keylin Holly, an Abolafia Motorcycle Club member, was riding behind two bikers on his motorcycle when one of them told him to stop following them on Sep. 14, 2023.

Near the intersection of 18th Street and Everett Street, Holly shot five times at the bikers in front of him. The stray bullets entered nearby homes.

Alleged Outlaws Motorcycle Club member arrested in Sumner County

by: Andy Cordan WKRN Sep 12, 2025
https://www.wkrn.com/news/local-news/alleged-outlaws-motorcycle-club-member-arrested-in-sumner-county/

SUMNER COUNTY, Tenn. (WKRN) — A man suspected of being a member of the notorious Outlaws Motorcycle Club was taken into custody in Sumner County following a traffic stop along Interstate 65.

According to members of the 18th Judicial District Drug Task Force, a vehicle was traveling too close to another vehicle, so law enforcement stopped the rental. When an agent got to the window, he immediately smelled marijuana.

Body camera footage shows the stop and the interaction with the driver, 56-year-old Eduard Ferdinand Thiemann of Chicago:
Agent: “Sir, you got any weapons or anything like that on you? Do you mind if I pat you down?”

Thiemann: “There’s a little bit of smoke that I have for myself, but that was it.”

Agent: “A little bit of weed?”
Thiemann: “Yes, sir.”
Agent: “How much weed we talking about?”
Thiemann: “I don’t know. An eighth or something.”

According to the task force, the man is a 15-year member of the Outlaws MC, as well as a convicted felon with previous weapons charges out of Chicago.

Authorities said Thiemann was traveling from Illinois to Florida for a celebration of life event for a high-ranking member of the motorcycle club who recently died.

Law enforcement told News 2 the Outlaws MC originally started in Chicago, adding that the group “likes to say that they’re not involved in criminal activity, but they are.”

When authorities went through the convicted felon’s vehicle, they found Thiemann’s motorcycle colors, patches, jewelry and a handgun. In addition, they seized marijuana, THC, vapes, and edibles.

Then, even though Thiemann said no when an agent asked if he would find any other marijuana or any cocaine inside the vehicle, law enforcement located 11 grams of cocaine hidden in empty battery compartments.

Authorities also made a rare discovery: a print-out with names, addresses, and aliases of every high-ranking Outlaws MC member across the country.

News 2 asked a task force member about why this was such an important bust.

“Because of who this individual is, and what he is a part of, to be the Outlaw motorcycle gang, and them being involved in criminal activity across the United States and across the world,” an agent explained. “Not only are they involved in things like narcotics distribution, but involved in murders, thefts, extortion, all kinds of criminal activity across the United States

According to officials, Thiemann was booked into the Sumner County Jail on June 19. He’s charged with possession of a Schedule II controlled substance with intent to manufacture/deliver/sell, possession of a Schedule VI controlled substance with intent to manufacture/deliver/sell, possession of firearm during the commission of a dangerous felony, and possession of a weapon by a convicted felon.

Jail records indicate the 56-year-old is scheduled to appear in court for his arraignment hearing on Sept. 26.

Police investigating possible arson at motorcycle club building in Riviera Beach
by Skyler Shepard
Thu, September 11th 2025 at 2:28 PM
Updated Thu, September 11th 2025 at 3:27 PM

The Riviera Beach Police Department (RBPD) said it is investigating a possible arson after a fire broke out early Thursday morning at a building associated with the Enforcers Motorcycle Club. (WPEC)

RIVIERA BEACH, Fla. (CBS12) — A fire that broke out before sunrise Thursday at a Riviera Beach motorcycle club may have been deliberately set, according to police.

The Riviera Beach Police Department (RBPD) said it is investigating a possible arson after a fire broke out early Thursday morning at a building associated with the Enforcers Motorcycle Club.

According to spokesperson Mike Jachles, the call came in around 6 a.m., and investigators believe the fire was intentionally set. Arson investigators and the police crime scene unit are currently on site. The extent of the damage has not yet been determined.

The building is linked to the Enforcers Motorcycle Club, a national organization made up of members who have served in law enforcement, the military, and public safety. The club promotes motorcycle safety, patriotism, and community engagement, with chapters across 12 U.S. states and one Canadian province, according to their website.

Officials have not released details about potential suspects or motives. Anyone with information is urged to contact RBPD at (561) 845-4123.

Anti-Islamic US biker gang members run security at deadly Gaza aid sites

Publish: Wednesday, 10 September, 2025
https://www.daily-sun.com/post/825557

The firm guarding sites where aid is distributed in Gaza has been using members of a US biker gang with a history of hostility to Islam to run its armed security, a BBC investigation has found.

BBC News has confirmed the identities of 10 members of the Infidels Motorcycle Club working in Gaza for UG Solutions – a private contractor providing security at Gaza Humanitarian Foundation sites, where hundreds of civilians seeking food have been killed in scenes of chaos and gunfire.

We can reveal that seven members of the gang are in senior positions overseeing sites at the controversial aid operation backed by Israel and US President Donald Trump.

UG Solutions (UGS) defended its employees’ qualifications for the job, saying it does not screen people out for “personal hobbies or affiliations unrelated to job performance”.

The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) said it has “a zero-tolerance policy for any hateful, discriminatory biases or conduct”.

Infidels MC was set up by US military veterans of the Iraq war in 2006 and members see themselves as modern Crusaders, using the Crusader cross as their symbol – a reference to the medieval Christians who fought Muslims for control of Jerusalem.

The gang is currently hosting anti-Muslim hate speech on its Facebook page and has previously held a pig roast “in defiance of” the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.

“Putting the Infidels biker club in charge of delivering humanitarian aid in Gaza is like putting the KKK in charge of delivering humanitarian aid in Sudan. It makes no sense whatsoever,” said Edward Ahmed Mitchell, deputy director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), a leading Muslim civil rights organisation in the US.

“It’s bound to lead to violence, and that’s exactly what we’ve seen happen in Gaza.”

The gang’s leader, Johnny “Taz” Mulford, is a former sergeant in the US Army who was punished for conspiracy to commit bribery, theft and making false statements to military authorities. He is now the “country team leader” running UG Solutions’ contract in Gaza.

We emailed Infidels MC for comment. In response, Mr Mulford instructed fellow leaders of the biker gang not to reply but included the BBC when he clicked “reply all” – inadvertently disclosing email addresses and names of fellow Infidels MC members, some of whom were working in Gaza.

By matching up names with public information about Infidels MC’s leadership, and evidence from UG Solutions insiders who worked with them, we have identified 10 members of Infidels MC who Mr Mulford recruited to work with him in Gaza.

In addition to Mr Mulford, we have identified three leading members of Infidels MC who also have senior roles at UGS’s Gaza operation:
1. Larry “J-Rod” Jarrett, who has been publicly named as the Infidels MC vice-president, and is in charge of logistics

2. The gang’s national treasurer, Bill “Saint” Siebe, who leads the security team for one of GHF’s four “safe distribution sites”
3. One of the gang’s founding members, Richard “A-Tracker” Lofton, a team leader at another distribution site

Confidential documents, open-source information and former UGS contractors have enabled us to confirm the identities of a further six Infidels bikers hired to work in Gaza. Three of them are leaders or deputy leaders of the firm’s armed security teams.

Mr Jarrett, Mr Siebe and Mr Lofton did not respond to requests for comment.

UGS told the BBC it conducts comprehensive background checks and only deploys vetted individuals. However, news reports indicate Mr Jarrett was arrested two years ago in the US for drunk driving and has a previous charge of driving under the influence from about a decade earlier. It is not known whether either case resulted in a conviction.

The founder and chief executive of UG Solutions, Jameson Govoni, was arrested earlier this year in North Carolina for his alleged involvement in a hit-and-run incident and for fleeing from police to evade arrest, according to court documents. Mr Govoni, who is based in the US and is not a member of Infidels MC, declined to comment.

Until now Mr Mulford was the only UG Solutions contractor to have been identified as a member of the Infidels. The BBC’s investigation reveals how widespread his hiring of members of the biker gang has been, notably to better-paid jobs leading the UGS armed security teams.
Social media posts show that in May, just two weeks before travelling to Gaza, Mr Mulford sought to recruit US military veterans who follow him on Facebook, inviting anyone who “can still shoot, move and communicate” to apply.

In total, at least 40 of about 320 people hired to work for UG Solutions in Gaza were recruited from Infidels MC, according to an estimate by a former contractor.

UG Solutions is paying each contractor $980 (£720) per day including expenses, rising to $1,580 (£1,160) per day for team leaders at GHF’s “safe distribution sites”, documents seen by the BBC show.

One leader of a team in Gaza overseeing site security, Josh Miller, posted a photo of a group of contractors in Gaza with a banner reading “Make Gaza Great Again”.

The banner advertises the logo of a company he owns which sells T-shirts and other clothing, including one which has the slogan “embrace violence” and another which says: “Surf all day, rockets all night. Gaza summer 25.”

His company also posted a video online showing scenes of gun violence and advocating the shooting of criminals, with the caption: “Remember, always shoot until they’re no longer a threat!”

Mr Miller has the word “Crusader” tattooed across his fingers and “1095” on his thumbs. This is the year when the leader of the Catholic church, Pope Urban II, launched the first crusade, attacking Muslims as a “vile race”. Mr Miller did not respond to requests for comment.

A post on the Infidels MC Facebook page selling “1095” hats says it signifies the start of the Crusades, “a military campaign by western European forces to recapture Jerusalem and the Holy Land from Muslim control”. The “Holy Land” refers to the area mostly covered by modern-day Israel and the Palestinian territories.

Johnny Mulford, who in addition to leading the gang is listed as the registered agent of a Florida company called Infidels MC, has the date 1095 tattooed across his chest. He has a Crusader cross tattooed on his right forearm and another on his left upper arm along with the word “Infidels”.

“When you see anti-Muslim bigots today celebrating 1095, celebrating the Crusades, they are celebrating the wholesale massacre of Muslims – the erasure of Muslims and Jews from the holy city of Jerusalem,” said Mr Mitchell from the US Muslim civil rights organisation CAIR.
He said the gang had the hallmarks of anti-Muslim hate groups which for decades have used the name “Infidels”.

Anti-Islamic views expressed by the gang include a flyer for the pig roast during Ramadan, which the BBC found on an archived web page. It says: “In defiance of the Islamic holiday of Ramadan… we invite you to attend the Infidels MC Colorado Springs Chapter open bike party & pig roast.”

The flyer also shows a woman wearing a burka that has been torn off from the neck down, exposing her chest.

The Infidels MC Facebook page has hosted clearly Islamophobic discussions. In 2020 the club shared a link to a false, satirical article claiming four US Democratic politicians, two of them Muslim, wanted the Bible to be deemed hate speech.

Comments from members of the Facebook group included: “Filling my magazine to the max. Would not be the first time we were at odds with muslims”; “Deport these pathetic skanks to a pathetic third world crap hole where they won’t be offended by the Holy Bible”; and a comment dismissing “them and their Mohammad” with an expletive.

As of Wednesday, the comments remain on the Infidels MC Facebook page.

The Infidels MC website also used to show the skull logo of the violent Marvel comic book character Punisher, a symbol appropriated by white supremacist groups, inscribed with “kafir” in Arabic script – which translates as “unbeliever” (or “infidel”).

Scenes of chaos and danger have been common at the aid distribution sites in Gaza since they opened at the end of May. Up to 2 September, 1,135 children, women and men were killed near GHF sites while seeking food, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

The UN has said most of the killings appear to have been carried out by Israeli security forces. Incidents where civilians were harmed while seeking aid are “under review by the competent authorities in the IDF”, the Israeli military said.

UGS has denied allegations that its security contractors also fired on civilians and that it put people seeking food in danger due to incompetent leadership. However, the company has admitted that warning shots have been used to disperse crowds.

In a statement, UG Solutions, based in North Carolina, said Johnny Mulford is a “trusted and respected figure” with more than 30 years’ experience supporting the US and its allies globally. “We stand by his reputation, record, and his contributions to the success of complex missions,” the company said.

“We do not screen for personal hobbies or affiliations unrelated to job performance or security standards. Every team member undergoes comprehensive background checks, and only qualified, vetted individuals are deployed on UG Solutions operations,” UGS said.

The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation said it relies on “people from all backgrounds” to provide aid in Gaza and to build trust with Gazans.
“The team providing aid at the Foundation’s sites is diverse – and it is successful for that reason,” the GHF said.

Fugitive Linked to Hells Angels Arrested After Six Years on the Run

by Bill Giannopoulos Greek City Times September 8, 2025

Fugitive Linked to Hells Angels Arrested After Six Years on the Run

Jim Soukoulis, a fugitive with ties to the Hells Angels, was apprehended at Melbourne’s Tullamarine Airport on Thursday after evading authorities since 2019. He was wanted in connection to an alleged drug importation scheme and had been on bail when he disappeared.

The Australian Federal Police (AFP) allege Soukoulis was involved in a 2017 plot to smuggle over 250kg of methamphetamine from California to Australia using a light aircraft. The drugs, discovered in a storage locker in Windsor, near Santa Rosa, were reportedly hidden in a custom aluminium box within the plane’s fuel bladder. Authorities believe the aircraft, destined for Melbourne, may have crashed due to excessive weight. The operation was uncovered through a joint investigation by the AFP and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, leading to charges against Soukoulis and two others.

While on bail in 2019, Soukoulis vanished, prompting a six-year AFP manhunt. His arrest in Indonesia and subsequent deportation to Australia mark the culmination of this effort. Soukoulis, described as well-connected in Asia, allegedly leveraged these ties to remain at large.

His connections to the Hells Angels were evident in a 2017 photo from a Phuket restaurant, where he dined with senior gang members, including Luke Moloney (a former Victorian Hells Angels member), Canadian Damion Ryan (Attica chapter, Greece), and Sydney’s Daniel Callaghan. Soukoulis was the only non-member present, raising questions about his role.

Soukoulis faced charges of conspiring to import a commercial quantity of methamphetamine, dealing with proceeds of crime ($1 million and $50,000), and earlier 2013 charges for trafficking cocaine and methamphetamine. His mother, Georgia Soukoulis, had offered her Adelaide home as part of his bail surety.

His return is the latest in a series of Australian fugitives extradited from abroad, a development likely noted by other high-profile criminals.

Dealer-turned-informant helped RCMP bust Hells Angel in international drug trafficking scheme, court hears
Damion Ryan on trial in connection with interprovincial bust that led to 20 arrests in Manitoba

Bryce Hoye · CBC · Posted: Sep 10, 2025

A member of the Hells Angels criminal organization was arrested thanks in part to a drug-dealer-turned-informant and undercover officers who slowly made incriminating connections to the man, beginning with an associate in a Manitoba jail.

That’s what Crown prosecutors suggested on Wednesday morning, at the beginning of a Winnipeg trial for Damion Ryan.

Ryan was one of 20 people arrested in Manitoba in 2022 as part of an RCMP bust of an international drugs and weapons trafficking scheme. Police said at the time they seized $70 million worth of drugs.

According to police, Ryan was the only full-patch Hells Angel arrested in the multi-year “Project Divergent” investigation, which spanned multiple provinces.

He and some co-conspirators were charged with trafficking methamphetamine, cocaine and fentanyl, and conspiring to profit from the proceeds of crime related to his connection to the Wolfpack, an organized crime group, court heard.

The judge-only trial, being heard by Justice Chris W. Martin at Court of King’s Bench, has hit several delays related to Ryan’s numerous changes in defence counsel. He’s had five different lawyers, most of whom he has fired, court heard. One went on medical leave.
He has also previously opted to self-represent.

Defence lawyer Amanda Sansregret was in court Wednesday as an amicus curiae, or friend of the court, to assist Ryan in his questioning of prosecutors and those testifying.

Ryan asked for another adjournment to review prosecutors’ evidence. Justice Martin refused.
“I have to tell you with a certain degree of frustration … I have a lot of empathy for you in terms of being a self-represented individual,” Martin told Ryan.

“I am not coming to the conclusion that you are gaming the system … to delay this matter, but it does have that fragrance to it at this particular moment.”

Federal Crown prosecutors Kate Henley and Janna Hyman laid out the beginnings of their case Wednesday, entering multiple thick binders of disclosure into the record that they suggest will incriminate Ryan.

Among the evidence, Henley and Hyman said they will draw on accounts, screenshots, phone recordings and logs from jail, surreptitious recordings and more that undercover officers obtained with the help of “Agent 66,” a former drug dealer who became an RCMP informant.

While in jail at Milner Ridge, east of Winnipeg, the informant became close to a contact of Ryan’s, Andre Steele, who sold the informant drugs, prosecutors said. Over time, the agent had the contact connect him with B.C.-based suppliers, from whom he purchased larger quantities of meth, cocaine and fentanyl, court heard.

Through them, the agent eventually made contact with Ryan — first through encrypted messaging apps, and then in person.

He met with Ryan in Montreal in December 2021, where the pair discussed transporting drugs from Ontario, drug prices and getting a vehicle with a hidden carpet, prosecutors said. They also talked about Ryan selling firearms to the agent, they said.

Ryan shipped five kilos of cocaine to the agent in Winnipeg via a courier in January 2022, the Crown said. Police made the Project Divergent busts the next month.

On Wednesday afternoon, the Crown called witnesses effectively to establish how investigators monitored and reviewed communications between agents and investigation targets.

Manitoba Justice employee Brittany Gunnlaughson, who works at Milner Ridge’s preventative security office, was part of the monitoring.
Court heard her duties include speaking with inmates, investigating incidents, completing production orders, safety and reviewing surveillance and telecommunications.

She said she was issued a production order to download recorded calls Steele made from jail between spring and fall 2021 and forward those to RCMP.

The second Crown witness to testify, Eric Berrard, is a 15-year civilian member of the RCMP who works as a field support technician for the special investigations unit. He often programs devices used in investigations, including setting up wiretaps.

He helped Project Divergent investigators set up wiretaps on Agent 66’s devices with his consent.

Sylvia Labelle, the third Crown witness, is also a civilian member with the RCMP investigation unit as an intercept monitor analyst. She monitors and reviews intercepted messages from numbers associated with investigations and liaises with telephone companies made to comply with investigations through production orders.

She exported data, including call audio and text messages, and passed them on to RCMP investigators as part of Project Divergent.

Prosecutors expect the trial could take six weeks. Agent 66 is expected to take the stand next week and be on the stand for a week or more.