Among the small businesses that line the coastal town of Shediac’s Main Street, just down the road from Louis-J.-Robichaud high school, is the Red Devils MC clubhouse.
Signage went up a few weeks ago on a small commercial building.
Ex-Sûreté du Québec officer François Doré told Global News in an interview on Thursday that the Red Devils are a “support club” young men join with the goal of working their way up to becoming full-blown Hells Angels members.
“They form this kind of support team called the Red Devils that are doing the business for the Hells Angels, for the major team I would say, so it’s about drug dealing, money laundering,” he said.
“(They do this) to prove that they’re safe, that they’re not talking to police and they’re doing a good job no matter what. It involves violence, it involves drug dealing, it involves illegal activities on behalf of other people.”
N.B. RCMP spokesperson Cpl. Hans Ouellette said there was a gathering in Shediac of outlaw motorcycle club members last weekend.
“For the safety of everyone in the area, we made sure that we had an adequate police presence over the weekend to observe what was going on there. We did not receive any calls for service in reference to that over the weekend.”
He said that while they are monitoring the situation, they don’t believe there is any risk to the general public.
“We do have to understand that outlaw motorcycle club members have used and continue to use violence and intimidation. Most of the time it’s to gain more territory when it comes to the illicit market, whether that’s drugs, firearms, etc.,” he said.
“But much of that impact is held within the criminal world.”
He is asking the public to report any criminal activity to the police.
“This is organized crime. Any organized crime has a very negative impact on our communities,” he said.