RCMP says N.L. without Hells Angels chapter after dismantling Vikings Motorcycle Club

Inspector says Project Bombard officially concluded with latest round of convictions

The RCMP says it has officially dismantled the Vikings Motorcycle Club, leaving Newfoundland and Labrador as likely the only province in the country without an active Hells Angels chapter.

The announcement comes after the latest round of Vikings Motorcycle Club convictions, which saw three members of the gang — Vincent Leonard, Wayne Johnson and James Curran — receive prison sentences.

Insp. Stefan Thoms of the RCMP’s federal serious organized crime unit says the latest convictions conclude Project Bombard, an organized crime investigation conducted by the province’s RCMP that began in 2014.

“We did succeed in completely dismantling that organization,” Thoms told CBC News. In total, Thoms said, 11 individuals were convicted as part of Project Bombard.

Hells Angels continuing influence
Although the Vikings Motorcycle Club is now dismantled, Thoms said biker gangs still have a presence in the province, including the Outlaw Motorcycle Club, but the RCMP successfully disrupted “some of their activities” through its Project Barbarian.

Bacchus Motorcycle Club also has a presence in Newfoundland and Labrador, Thoms said, and the Hells Angels continue to “influence criminal activities here in the province.”

LISTEN | RCMP on how it drove the Vikings Motorcycle Club out of the province:

CBC Newfoundland Morning9:19
We told you about Project Bombard and why the RCMP says it’s driven the Hell’s Angels and their affiliated biker groups out of the province
The RCMP in NL made a bold claim this week: that they’ve officially driven the Vikings Motorcycle Club, closely tied to the Hell’s Angels, out of the province. Project Bombard started back in 2014 and has now wrapped up with a final couple of convictions. Inspector Stefan Thoms is with the RCMP’s Federal, Serious and Organized Crime division.
Thoms said he suspects the notorious biker gang will continue its efforts to establish a foothold in the province through other support groups.

The RCMP will continue following the activities of organized crime groups and will take whatever steps necessary to prevent them from establishing a base in the province, he said.

Establishing case law
Project Bombard began in 2014 with the murder of North River father Dale Porter, who was stabbed to death by Vikings Motorcycle Club member Al Potter.

Potter was convicted of first-degree murder for Potter’s death in March 2019.

After Porter’s death, Thoms said, it became clear to the RCMP that they would have to investigate the group’s activities beyond the murder.

The RCMP were able to reveal that the Vikings biker gang was involved in numerous criminal offences and that they were sanctioned by the Hells Angels in Ontario’s Simcoe County and had ties to other chapters throughout Ontario and Quebec.