Normand WHISSELL

• Name	Normand WHISSELL
  Gender	Male
  Person ID	12558	main
  Last Modified	27 Aug 2018

  
  

• Notes

  June 6, 2002 Montreal police say key Bandidos leader still at large following massive raid MONTREAL (CP) -- Several members of the Bandidos biker gang, including a key group leader, escaped a massive police raid that crippled the organization, police said Thursday. Among the six Bandidos at large is Montreal chapter executive Normand Whissell, who has been on the run since he survived an attempt on his life Jan. 11 near Montreal. Montreal Gazette Normand Whissell now has two reasons to hide. Since January, police suspect the member of the Bandidos biker gang has been high on the Hells Angels hit list. Now the police are looking for him, too. Whissell, 47, is described as the most influential member of the Bandidos still being sought in Operation Amigo. Launched Wednesday, the Montreal police operation netted 56 people who are either members or associates of the Bandidos. They face charges ranging from drug trafficking to conspiracy to commit murder. One of those arrested Wednesday died yesterday in hospital. Alexandre Fortin, 28, was shot when provincial police tried to arrest him in Evain, a town in the Abitibi region. Quebec municipal police will investigate his death. Six people remain at large, including Whissell and two other full-fledged members of the gang. The other three missing people named in the arrest warrant made public this week are described as associates of the gang. "Actually they weren't players that we were really interested in, so we didn't spend much more time on finding them. But we'll find them," said Montreal police Inspector Serge Frenette. "Mr. Whissell is the only important member of the Bandidos who is still free. He's been the target of a couple of shootings. He's been missing for quite a while and (is on the run), mostly from the Hells Angels. They'll be looking for him and we'll be looking for him also." Frenette was referring to two failed attempts on Whissell's life earlier this year. On Jan. 11 he was wounded by gunfire in Boisbriand and on March 14, a man with absolutely no ties to either gang was killed while filling his car with gas in Saint-Eustache. Police consider Yves Albert an innocent victim of the biker war. He drove a car that resembled the biker's. Whissell faces 13 of the more serious charges among the 42 in the warrant filed Wednesday. He is accused of plotting to murder anyone belonging to the Hells Angels or their puppet gangs, like the Rowdy Crew. He is also charged in a series of arson fires set last year at bars where Bandidos thought drugs were being sold for the Hells Angels. The two other "full-patch" Bandidos being sought are Jean-Claude Belanger, 36, president of the Quebec City chapter, and Luis Raposo, 37, a member of the Toronto chapter. Police searched Belanger's house on Wednesday but he was long gone. A police source said Belanger took over control of the Bandidos chapter in Quebec City recently. When the Rock Machine decided to join the Bandidos, more than a year ago, several longtime outlaw bikers who were just about to be released on parole decided to call it quits. Their departure left a void and Belanger, who has a record that includes impaired driving and armed robbery, stepped in. Both Raposo and Belanger are wanted on the same five charges, possessing both cocaine and marijuana for trafficking.