Top Hells Angel arrested in Montreal

One of the most powerful members of the Hells Angels' Quebec chapter, Normand Marvin (Casper) Ouimet, was arrested in Montreal on Monday.

Ouimet has been a wanted man for a year and a half, sincea major police roundup in April 2009 that targeted the biker gang's toptop brass in Quebec and New Brunswick.

He is wanted in connection with 22 murders and other gangsterism-related charges, said Quebec police Sgt. loise Cossette.

Ouimet also faces several charges related to his financial activities, including fraud, extortion, and money laundering.

Police believe he infiltrated Quebec's lucrative construction industry and was controlling several building firms used to launder money.

Police picked him up while he was ridingin a taxi cab on St-Denis Street Monday.

Ouimet was one of five presumed members of the Hells Trois-Rivres chapter that have so far eluded authorities. Four remain at large, Cossette said.

Ouimet will appear at the Gouin Detention Centre on Tuesday to face formal charges, but police won't confirm he is being held there overnight, citing security reasons.

Maurice "Mom" Boucher, another top Hells leader, is currently serving a life sentence for murder andwas stabbed in prison last week.

The 2009 crackdown, known asOperation SharQC, is the biggest dragnet against the Hells in Quebec's organized crime history.

More than 111 full-patch members were rounded up across the province after a former Hells member agreed to wear a wiretapand testify againstfellow gang members.