The Rise and Fall of the Winnipeg Rock Machine
May 1, 2013
Guns and cash and explosives on the table. From footage of the RCMP's press conference......
In 2008 Manitoba became the stomping grounds for one of Canada’s most notorious biker gangs.
Rivals of the Hells Angels and infamous after a bloody 8-year biker war in Quebec that ended in 2002, the Rock Machine were by no means a new motorcycle club — and looking back, it seems it was only a matter of time before bullets and fire bombs started flying on the streets of Winnipeg.
In 2008, after a number of busts by Winnipeg Police and Manitoba RCMP threw a wrench into the gears of the local Hells Angels, the Rock Machine graciously thanked law enforcement for “handing [them] the province” and quickly rumbled towards the top, trying to become Winnipeg’s dominant club.
In 2011, things boiled over between the Hells Angels’ backed Redlined Support Crew and the growing Rock Machine who were engaged in a turf war despite Rock Machine’s claims of going legit. In March 2012 a Winnipeg police initiative dubbed Project Flatline led to the arrests of 11 suspects, including local Hells Angels president Dale Sweeney who just received an 11-year prison sentence for the cocaine trafficking.
Considering some Canadian motorcycle chapters have existed for decades, the Rock Machine’s run in the ‘Peg was a short one. Manitoba RCMP managed to topple the club as they were positioning themselves for a bloody take over of the city and province.
The extent of which was clear on Jan. 30, 2013 when RCMP, along with 140 police officers wrapped up a six-month investigation known as Project Dilemma and raided a number of locations in Winnipeg, seizing a bounty of drugs, guns, explosives and biker vests for the Rock Machine, the Vendettas and the Hell Hounds, their support clubs.
According to a RCMP press release, police seized 13 pounds of cocaine, 1,800 tablets of Benzylpiperazine (a synthetic drug like ecstasy), two firearms and a commercial explosive device. Other searches saw seizures of four firearms, ammunition, two pipe bombs, eight other explosive devices, three pounds of cocaine, approximately eight pounds of weed and significant amounts of cash.
11 people were arrested, including four full-patch Rock Machine members, a prospect, and others pushing Rock Machine product. Despite the small number of arrests, the RCMP say this was enough to shake the organization to its core.
To get some info about what the bust meant for the Manitoba chapter, I spoke to Sgt. Len Isnor with the Ontario Provincial Police’s biker enforcement unit who said the bust may have reached beyond Manitoba as the chapter was one of the club’s thriving branches.
“The chapter that they had there was by far having the most success,” said Isnor. “They formed a very strong chapter, with some strong personalities and they were able to be successful in an area where other groups were down. Over the last few years the police in Manitoba and Winnipeg delivered a lot of blows to the Hells Angels … so it was perfect timing for another group to come in.”
Seized coke and pills.....
However, Mike McIntyre, the justice and courts reporter for the Winnipeg Free Press and the city’s veteran crime reporter, said he’s not so sure the bust will successfully bring down the Rock Machine.
“The business that they’re in, which is largely the drug business, is not going away,” said McIntyre.
“Every time the police do one of these projects—and they’ve done many of them now over the last five or six years in Winnipeg, previously targeting the Hells Angels—although it certainly has a short-term impact on the gang itself that they’ve targeted, it would be foolish for anyone to think that somehow they’ve nipped the market that these guys are in, in the bud.”
He continued, “While they may temporarily disrupt the activity of the organization themselves, and certainly this was a blow to the Rock Machine, I think this is probably temporary.”
McIntyre said although there is no shortage of resources or experience amongst Rock Machine ranks, the club’s facing a new enemy as internal strife—a result of a paid informant laying the web for Project Dilemma—has put the club on edge in a big way.
“It puts a target on these guys. They know now that they’re not exactly going to get a free pass in this city,” said McIntyre. “This project, like so many others, utilized a full-patch member as an informant so the police got someone to turn on their brothers, if you will, for a price. That, no doubt, must create a sense of paranoia amongst these gang members, these bikers.”
Although he isn’t sure how many Rock Machine associates remain on the streets, his sources tell him they’re rebuilding.
“They’re certainly out there,” said McIntyre. “It’s not like McDonalds if they have a bunch of employees leave and they now have to go on a hiring spree where they put an ad in the paper and a bunch of people apply … it works a lot different in the crime world, you have to prove that loyalty and that trust.”
Sgt. Travis Charlton with the RCMP drug section in Winnipeg and team commander on Project Dilemma said the Rock Machine did a good job of making itself appear larger than it was, saying their investigation discovered there were only four full-patch members as well as one prospect, all of which are in custody.
Hazardous ammunition.....
“Here in Winnipeg and in Manitoba there are currently no full-patch wearing members and prospects on the streets,” said Charlton. “There’s a few associates on the streets for the Rock Machine that are still friends with the members. They weren’t targets of our investigation; we just targeted the club members themselves. The Rock Machine is very fluid here as far as their recruitment and members, as members have gone in and out from the club.”
When asked about the Winnipeg chapter being one of the strongest across the country, Charlton explained they had done a good job of promoting itself.
“The Rock Machine here in Winnipeg, they were very strong at promoting the Rock Machine name through social media and different things … They weren’t very sophisticated as a club, but they were still able to move lots of drugs, and they had access to weapons and explosives,” he said.
Charlton explained the club was still bringing in substantial amounts of drugs to be peddled in Winnipeg despite their small size.
“They were getting several kilos of cocaine a month into Winnipeg and that was being distributed from the patch members down to their friends and associates who were selling it at the ounce level and smaller,” said Charlton. He added the investigation revealed a good chunk of drugs were coming from Quebec, “from the Rock Machine members in the Montreal area,” a place where the club has avoided out of respect for the Hells Angels.
When asked if Manitoba had a problem concerning outlaw motorcycle gangs, Charlton said the problem is nationwide.
“It’s not just a problem here in Manitoba, it’s a problem throughout the country.”
Isnor and McIntyre said the bust is likely to create a vacuum in Winnipeg’s underworld. While Isnor said he couldn’t predict who might fill the void, McIntyre had some insight.
“For street gangs in this city, Winnipeg will continue to be a little bit of a playground,” said McIntyre. “The more hits the big boys on the block are taking, the more opportunity it’s creating for them and ultimately the more danger it’s creating for everyone.”
Guns and cash and explosives on the table. From footage of the RCMP's press conference......
In 2008 Manitoba became the stomping grounds for one of Canada’s most notorious biker gangs.
Rivals of the Hells Angels and infamous after a bloody 8-year biker war in Quebec that ended in 2002, the Rock Machine were by no means a new motorcycle club — and looking back, it seems it was only a matter of time before bullets and fire bombs started flying on the streets of Winnipeg.
In 2008, after a number of busts by Winnipeg Police and Manitoba RCMP threw a wrench into the gears of the local Hells Angels, the Rock Machine graciously thanked law enforcement for “handing [them] the province” and quickly rumbled towards the top, trying to become Winnipeg’s dominant club.
In 2011, things boiled over between the Hells Angels’ backed Redlined Support Crew and the growing Rock Machine who were engaged in a turf war despite Rock Machine’s claims of going legit. In March 2012 a Winnipeg police initiative dubbed Project Flatline led to the arrests of 11 suspects, including local Hells Angels president Dale Sweeney who just received an 11-year prison sentence for the cocaine trafficking.
Considering some Canadian motorcycle chapters have existed for decades, the Rock Machine’s run in the ‘Peg was a short one. Manitoba RCMP managed to topple the club as they were positioning themselves for a bloody take over of the city and province.
The extent of which was clear on Jan. 30, 2013 when RCMP, along with 140 police officers wrapped up a six-month investigation known as Project Dilemma and raided a number of locations in Winnipeg, seizing a bounty of drugs, guns, explosives and biker vests for the Rock Machine, the Vendettas and the Hell Hounds, their support clubs.
According to a RCMP press release, police seized 13 pounds of cocaine, 1,800 tablets of Benzylpiperazine (a synthetic drug like ecstasy), two firearms and a commercial explosive device. Other searches saw seizures of four firearms, ammunition, two pipe bombs, eight other explosive devices, three pounds of cocaine, approximately eight pounds of weed and significant amounts of cash.
11 people were arrested, including four full-patch Rock Machine members, a prospect, and others pushing Rock Machine product. Despite the small number of arrests, the RCMP say this was enough to shake the organization to its core.
To get some info about what the bust meant for the Manitoba chapter, I spoke to Sgt. Len Isnor with the Ontario Provincial Police’s biker enforcement unit who said the bust may have reached beyond Manitoba as the chapter was one of the club’s thriving branches.
“The chapter that they had there was by far having the most success,” said Isnor. “They formed a very strong chapter, with some strong personalities and they were able to be successful in an area where other groups were down. Over the last few years the police in Manitoba and Winnipeg delivered a lot of blows to the Hells Angels … so it was perfect timing for another group to come in.”
Seized coke and pills.....
However, Mike McIntyre, the justice and courts reporter for the Winnipeg Free Press and the city’s veteran crime reporter, said he’s not so sure the bust will successfully bring down the Rock Machine.
“The business that they’re in, which is largely the drug business, is not going away,” said McIntyre.
“Every time the police do one of these projects—and they’ve done many of them now over the last five or six years in Winnipeg, previously targeting the Hells Angels—although it certainly has a short-term impact on the gang itself that they’ve targeted, it would be foolish for anyone to think that somehow they’ve nipped the market that these guys are in, in the bud.”
He continued, “While they may temporarily disrupt the activity of the organization themselves, and certainly this was a blow to the Rock Machine, I think this is probably temporary.”
McIntyre said although there is no shortage of resources or experience amongst Rock Machine ranks, the club’s facing a new enemy as internal strife—a result of a paid informant laying the web for Project Dilemma—has put the club on edge in a big way.
“It puts a target on these guys. They know now that they’re not exactly going to get a free pass in this city,” said McIntyre. “This project, like so many others, utilized a full-patch member as an informant so the police got someone to turn on their brothers, if you will, for a price. That, no doubt, must create a sense of paranoia amongst these gang members, these bikers.”
Although he isn’t sure how many Rock Machine associates remain on the streets, his sources tell him they’re rebuilding.
“They’re certainly out there,” said McIntyre. “It’s not like McDonalds if they have a bunch of employees leave and they now have to go on a hiring spree where they put an ad in the paper and a bunch of people apply … it works a lot different in the crime world, you have to prove that loyalty and that trust.”
Sgt. Travis Charlton with the RCMP drug section in Winnipeg and team commander on Project Dilemma said the Rock Machine did a good job of making itself appear larger than it was, saying their investigation discovered there were only four full-patch members as well as one prospect, all of which are in custody.
Hazardous ammunition.....
“Here in Winnipeg and in Manitoba there are currently no full-patch wearing members and prospects on the streets,” said Charlton. “There’s a few associates on the streets for the Rock Machine that are still friends with the members. They weren’t targets of our investigation; we just targeted the club members themselves. The Rock Machine is very fluid here as far as their recruitment and members, as members have gone in and out from the club.”
When asked about the Winnipeg chapter being one of the strongest across the country, Charlton explained they had done a good job of promoting itself.
“The Rock Machine here in Winnipeg, they were very strong at promoting the Rock Machine name through social media and different things … They weren’t very sophisticated as a club, but they were still able to move lots of drugs, and they had access to weapons and explosives,” he said.
Charlton explained the club was still bringing in substantial amounts of drugs to be peddled in Winnipeg despite their small size.
“They were getting several kilos of cocaine a month into Winnipeg and that was being distributed from the patch members down to their friends and associates who were selling it at the ounce level and smaller,” said Charlton. He added the investigation revealed a good chunk of drugs were coming from Quebec, “from the Rock Machine members in the Montreal area,” a place where the club has avoided out of respect for the Hells Angels.
When asked if Manitoba had a problem concerning outlaw motorcycle gangs, Charlton said the problem is nationwide.
“It’s not just a problem here in Manitoba, it’s a problem throughout the country.”
Isnor and McIntyre said the bust is likely to create a vacuum in Winnipeg’s underworld. While Isnor said he couldn’t predict who might fill the void, McIntyre had some insight.
“For street gangs in this city, Winnipeg will continue to be a little bit of a playground,” said McIntyre. “The more hits the big boys on the block are taking, the more opportunity it’s creating for them and ultimately the more danger it’s creating for everyone.”
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