Bikers and police not commenting on closure of Nomads, which follows shooting of boxer and Angel Phil Boudreault
The Hells Angels have shut down their elite Nomads chapter outside Ottawa, just a month after hosting a national gathering of more than 500 outlaw bikers.
Neither the bikers nor the police are saying why there is no longer a Nomads chapter (also known as a charter) on Piperville Rd. off Hwy. 417, just a 15-minute drive from downtown Ottawa.
“It’s closed,” Det.-Staff Sgt. Len Isnor, head of the provincial biker enforcement unit, said on Tuesday. “There is no Nomads chapter.”
The Nomads are considered an elite group of bikers who require little direction.
There were about a dozen of them in Ontario.
The Hells Angels have about 175 Ontario members and 450 members across Canada. About 60 of them are in custody or are restricted from associating with outlaw bikers because of bail or parole conditions.
Many of the charges against them relate to drug trafficking and violence.
Members of the Hells Angels greet each other at the Hells Angels Nomads' compound during the group's Canada Run event on July 23. The Nomads had the honour of the hosting the national event in July, but one biker source said it was dull and a dud. (Justin Tang)
The Nomads’ shutdown is an abrupt change of direction for the chapter, which first popped up in Ontario when the Hells Angels expanded into Ontario in 2000-2001.
They had the honour of hosting a national gathering, or Canada Run, July 21-24 to mark the club’s 15th anniversary in Ontario.
The Nomads charter was nixed on Aug. 28.
One biker source said the Canada Run was considered dull and a dud, but Isnor said that it could be considered successful, as it drew together more than 500 outlaw bikers.
Bikers were seen taking a giant cake into the compound and taking selfies on Parliament Hill.
Members of the Hells Angels affiliate club the Red Devils greet each other outside Nomads' compound on July 23. The gated compound where the Nomads met remains the home base for four chapters of the Red Devils. (Justin Tang)
The 0.92-acre, gated compound where the Nomads met remains the home base for four chapters of the Red Devils, considered a junior club affiliated to the Hells Angels.
More than 30 Red Devils still meet there, Isnor said.
The status of the former Ontario Nomads is unclear as none of them has appeared as members of existing charters of the Hells Angels, Isnor said.
“They haven’t landed anywhere yet,” Isnor said.
“Right now, it’s a very confusing organization,” Isnor said.
There has been plenty of turmoil at the Ottawa-area clubhouse recently.
Nomads’ vice-president Phil Boudreault, shown here in a YouTube video screengrab, was shot while riding his motorcycle near Lachute, Que., in April.
Nomads’ vice-president Phil Boudreault survived a murder attempt in April after he was shot while riding his motorcycle near Lachute, Que., about 60 km northwest of Montreal.
At least one gunman opened fire from a vehicle that pulled alongside him. A source said Boudreault shielded his girlfriend, who was also on the motorcycle.
Boudreault, a former Olympic boxer, was one of the Ottawa Nomads who wore a distinctive bright red, bullet-proof Kevlar vest.
Former Ontario Nomads’ president Paul Porter has quit the club and moved home to Montreal.
He was paroled in 2014 after serving time for cocaine trafficking.
