A shadow has fallen over the Hells Angels in British Columbia. For the first time in nearly four decades – since their arrival in 1983 – one of their chapters has been officially dissolved, a chilling testament to the relentless pressure they face.
The Hardside chapter, a relatively new addition to the province’s biker landscape, shuttered its doors in mid-March. Born on March 31, 2017, with a celebratory party and a boastful message plastered across the gang’s international website, the Hardside quickly became entangled in a web of violence and legal battles. Its demise marks a significant, though perhaps temporary, shift in the province’s criminal landscape.
The chapter’s existence was tragically short-lived. Just eighteen months after opening, the body of Chad Wilson, a prominent member, was discovered beneath the Golden Ears Bridge in Maple Ridge – a brutal execution shrouded in unsolved mystery. Then, in 2019, Wilson’s fellow Hardside member, Suminder “Allie” Grewal, met a violent end in a busy South Surrey Starbucks drive-thru, the perpetrators later convicted.
The legal repercussions followed swiftly. Surrey filed a lawsuit against Hardside, alleging violations of city bylaws and unauthorized renovations at their rented clubhouse on 96th Avenue. The case is slated for trial next year, a lingering cloud over the chapter’s final days.
Despite the dissolution, the legal battles continue. A civil forfeiture lawsuit, filed by the province, targets the property owners of the Hells Angels’ clubhouses in Mission and Pitt Meadows, alleging links to a criminal organization and demanding forfeiture of the properties.
While the Hardside clubhouse is now vacant, the property remains subject to an ongoing seizure. Simultaneously, a new chapter, dubbed “West Side,” has emerged on Vancouver Island, seemingly a splintering of the Nanaimo Hells Angels. This new group has already established an Instagram presence, though details of its location remain shrouded in secrecy.
The province’s relentless pursuit of the Hells Angels extends beyond clubhouses. In 2023, the Nanaimo chapter’s clubhouse was seized after a protracted 16-year civil forfeiture battle. Yet, even with the loss of their primary location, members continue to utilize neighboring properties owned by chapter associates.
Similar victories have been achieved in Kelowna and east Vancouver, resulting in the seizure of those clubhouses following a successful appeal at the B.C. Court of Appeal. The Hells Angels’ foothold in British Columbia began in 1983, with the absorption of the Satan’s Angels, establishing Vancouver, White Rock, and Nanaimo as the initial chapters.
Subsequent chapters followed – East End, Haney, the Nomads, Mission City, Kelowna, and West Point – each adding to the complex and enduring presence of the Hells Angels in the province. The ongoing legal actions suggest a determined effort to dismantle the organization’s operations and solidify its diminishing grip on British Columbia.
