Warlocks Motorcycle Club patch. (PERRY MAH/EDMONTON SUN)
Four members of the Drayton Valley chapter of the Warlocks outlaw motorcycle club have been arrested and eight firearms were seized following an Alberta Law Enforcement Response Teams (ALERT) probe.
Edmonton Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit (CFSEU), with help from RCMP Drayton Valley, RCMP Emergency Response Team, and Edmonton city police members, executed a search warrant at a Drayton Valley residence associated to the Warlocks on March 21.
As a result, investigators seized the following:
• A loaded handgun;
• Six rifles, including 2 prohibited;
• 273 rounds of ammunition;
• Over one kilogram of marijuana;
• Over 200 various prescription pills;
• Other weapons including knives, brass knuckles, and air soft guns;
• $6,150 cash proceeds of crime.
A total of eight people have been arrested.
Sheldon King, 31, Rocky Buzzell, 49, Luke Bushell, 22, and Dean McKnight, 41, have all been arrested. McKnight was arrested in a traffic stop and a loaded handgun was seized.
Elizabeth McKnight, 46, Emanuel Lapointe, 42, Richard Williams, 57, and Blair MacNeil, 32, were also arrested.
In total, the eight individuals face 77 drug and weapons related charges.
“Drayton Valley is encouraged by the recent progress shown by Law Enforcement in addressing the problems which Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs have brought to our community,” said Drayton Valley Mayor Glenn McLean.
“Together with Law Enforcement and other agencies, Drayton Valley is united in our commitment to maintain and grow a healthy community — one in which the criminal element is not welcome.”
In 2011, a Warlock members who did not want to reveal his true identity, told the Sun he was trying to shed the stereotypes associated with being part of a motorcycle club.
“We’re not a gang, we’re a motorcycle club. We are not criminals. You can’t be a Warlock if you’re a criminal,” said the biker. “It’s like any organization. Yes, we have our bad apples, everybody does. But we take steps to ensure that you are thrown out or stripped of your patch. Not everybody is bad.”
The Warlocks have been on police radar since at least 2005, but didn’t officially establish their first Canadian chapter until last November.
The club is known as a “one-percenter” with roots that trace back to the U.S., particularly Pennsylvania and Orlando, and with chapters in Germany and England.
The club’s website states “the Warlocks motorcycle club is a strong brotherhood of serious motorcycle riders and is not for everyone. We are not a social weekend riding club, we are a brotherhood of bikers that take riding and flying our colours very serious
