Former clubhouse owned by Nanaimo, B.C. Hells Angels being demolished - Action News
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British Columbia

Former clubhouse owned by Nanaimo, B.C. Hells Angels being demolished

A clubhouse that once belonged to a Vancouver Island chapter of the Hells Angels is being demolished, just weeks after a court ruling confirmed the B.C. government has the right to seize the property.

The province seized 3 clubhouses belonging to the bikers in April

Two men wearing green jackets face away from the camera watching an excavator demolish a building behind a chain-link fence.
Bystanders look on as the former Nanaimo Hells Angels' clubhouse, located at 805 Victoria Rd., in Nanaimo about a 111-kilometre drive north of Victoria is demolished on Nov. 15, 2023. (Claire Palmer/CBC News)

A clubhouse that once belonged to a Vancouver Island chapter of the Hells Angels is being demolished, just weeks after a court ruling confirmed the B.C. government has the right to seize the property.

Mike Farnworth, minister of public safety and solicitor general, says in a statement that the clubhouse in Nanaimo about a 111-kilometre drive north of Victoria is coming down immediately.

He says the demolition is "only the beginning,'' and "puts organized crime on notice'' that criminals cannot profit from their activities.

A Supreme Court of Canada ruling issued last month upheld a B.C. court's decision finding an "inescapable'' inference that the Nanaimo clubhouse and other Hells Angels properties in Kelowna and east Vancouver were used for criminal activity.

A building is seen being demolished. It is black and orange and there is a No Trespassing sign on a chain-link fence to the right of the structure. An RCMP SUV sits in front of the scene.
The former clubhouse is one of three properties seized from the Hells Angels by the B.C. government this year. (Claire Palmer/CBC News)

The ruling ended a legal battle that stretched more than a decade and confirmed B.C.'s Civil Forfeiture Office could seize the clubhouses as proceeds of crime.

The east Vancouver club house is valued at $1.52 million, the Kelowna property is assessed at close to $1.3 million, while the Nanaimo property is valued at $300,000.

Farnworth says the office is now in legal possession of all three properties.

"Government will continue to protect British Columbians and take action against organized crime by seizing illegally obtained assets, brick-by-brick, we will demolish organized crime and those that profit from it,'' Farnworth said in the statement.

He did not say why the Civil Forfeiture Office had decided to level the Nanaimo club.