*** Canadian authorities have arrested at least 50 people in connection with an alleged cocaine trafficking ring with suspected ties both to the Montreal Mafia and the Hells Angels. Among those arrested were Bruno Diquinzio, an actor who played a mobster on the television series Omerta during the late 1990s, and Antonino Milioto. Both men previously have been convicted on drug trafficking charges:
Besides the charges filed against him in Montreal court yesterday, Diquinzio is being sought since June 1 on drug trafficking charges filed in Vancouver. In 2000, he was sentenced to a 3-year prison term after police in Montreal linked him to a large stash of drugs, cash and weapons uncovered in the St. Michel district. Police initially linked him to the Montreal Mafia, but during a Dec. 2000 parole hearing, his classification was modified to a "large-scale drug trafficker" with extensive contacts in the drug milieu. At least one of the people arrested yesterday is known to have actual links to the Montreal Mafia through the Rizzuto clan. Antonino Milioto, 62, of Montreal, was among the many people scheduled to appear in court yesterday. In 1999, Milioto was arrested in connection with another cocaine smuggling ring, along with people connected to the Montreal Mafia. In 2003, he was sentenced to 31/2 years for playing a limited role in the plot to smuggle hundreds of kilos of cocaine from Miami to Montreal.
Sgt. Martine Isabelle stated that "[a] part of the investigation leads us to believe it can be tied to (the Hells Angels)" although none of those arrested "appear to be full-patch members of the biker gang."
*** Devron Quast pleaded guilty in a federal court in Seattle, Washington for his role "as part of a drug ring linked to the Hells Angels" to smuggle drugs from British Colombia into the United States.
*** Russel Miller Jr., a member of the Redliners motorcycle club which reportedly is affiliated with Hells Angels, was arrested in Boston after allegedly beating in a man's head with a hammer:
Police said Miller was wearing a black leather vest with an “81” patch - “significant,” they said, in identifying Hells Angels because the number 8 corresponds with the letter H, and the number 1 with A. Miller claimed he rides with the Redliners, a motorcycle gang police said is an affiliate of the Hells Angels.
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