| Magella "Magel" Houde |
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| Magella Houde was born on November 22, 1955 and became a prospect for the Hells Angels Quebec City chapter in 1990. On his first attempt, Houde did not receive the necessary votes to become a full-patch member of the Hells, but succeeded on his second attempt, in November 1994. Houde's club colours features the elite "Filthy Few" patch, reportedly awarded to members who have participated in at least one murder, according to law enforcement. Houde, Marc "Tom" Pelletier, and Roger Morin were arrested at the |
| Hippodrome de Quebec on September 1, 1995. Police reportedly saw Houde tossing something into a garbage container. They searched the contents and found a firearm with the serial number scratched off. Police pulled over the trio's car, where they discovered another firearm. The three were placed under arrest and charged. Houde would be acquitted in March 1996. The next month, on April 21, Houde was handed a suspended sentence by Judge Jean Drouin after he pleaded guilty to an incident that had happened in a bar. Houde had entered the establishment wearing his Hells Angels colours, an action the owner did not appreciate. He called police to help him remove Houde from the bar. Houde was charged with disrupting the peace and assault. Over 400 officers from the Surete du Quebec, the RCMP, and the Quebec and Levis municipal police raided about 40 homes and business linked to the Hells Angels on February 27, 2002. Twenty-nine people were arrested, including Houde and five other members of the gang's Quebec City chapter. Five members of the Damners Downtown, a Hells puppet gang, were also among the arrests. Authorities in New Brunswick arrested 29 others, including 12 members of the Damners, in connection to the operation that same day. The raids focused in Moncton and the north-western part of the province. Numerous charges were laid, including drug trafficking, conspiracy to traffic, possession of goods obtained through crime, and gangsterism. A total of 257 charges were laid by prosecutors, with Houde facing 221 of those accusations. The investigation, which had began in April, 2000 and was called Operation Quatre H, set its sights on Houde and three other Hells, Alain Harton, Pierre Hamilton, and Daniel Hudon, and the major drug network they allegedly operated on the south shore of Quebec City, in Beauce and the Bas-Saint-Laurent, stretching all the way into New Brunswick. Police said the network distribution 30 kilograms of cocaine and 20 kilograms of hashish every month, bringing in about $15 million a month. During the almost two year police operation, investigators were also able to reportedly obtain enough evidence against Hells Angels Sylvain Lord and Mario Auger to charge them for running a drug network in Quebec City and on the city's north shore. According to police, the drug ring dealt mostly in cocaine, hashish, and ecstasy. |