WINNIPEG – Heavily armed police SWAT team members gathered at a downtown Winnipeg courthouse Monday while police agent Franco Atanasovic took the witness stand against the former boss of the Manitoba Hells Angels.
Atanasovic was paid more than $500,000 to infiltrate the local biker chapter and conduct a series of drug deals that were caught on audio and videotape.
Hells president Ernie Dew – a longtime friend of Atanasovic’s – was among the 13 targets of the undercover operation arrested in February 2006.
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Dew has pleaded not guilty to multiple counts of drug-trafficking and has elected to act as his own lawyer.
However, Queen’s Bench Justice Brenda Keyser ruled Dew could not cross-examine Atanasovic and appointed a lawyer for that task.
Atanasovic, who is now in witness protection, described in his testimony Monday how he negotiated a deal with police that had him go undercover for nearly a full year.
The judge made a rare order last week that banned members of the public, other than media, from sitting in the courtroom while Atanasovic is on the stand.
The move was made because of ongoing concerns about his safety.
Dew has lost his perch atop the outlaw motorcycle gang since his February 2006 arrest.
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