UPDATE: Hells Angels property in Kelowna taken over by the Province of BC

(Update: April 14, 2023 @ 4:10 pm): In an update this afternoon, the Ministry of Public Safety Mike Farnworth confirmed that three Hells Angels clubhouses in BC have been forfeited to the Province.

The Civil Forfeiture Office and its asset management agent attended all three properties, in Kelowna, Nanaimo and Vancouver, this morning in order to inspect the properties and replace the locks. Law enforcement were also onsite to keep the peace.

According to the ministry, the Province of BC is now on the title for all three properties.

They added that the procedure to take possession of and sell each property is “dependent on the unique circumstances of each case.”

Further comment on the situation was not possible, as the case remains within the window of a potential appeal.

@kelownanow.com

Hells Angels property in Kelowna taken over by the Province of BC. Link in bio for more.

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(Original story: April 14, 2023 @ 11:30 am)

There’s a significant police presence around the Hells Angels clubhouse in Kelowna today.

Both local police and members of BC’s anti-gang Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit arrived at the clubhouse at 837 Ellis St. this morning.

They’re there to support the province’s civil forfeiture office as it moves to seize the property and other assets belonging to the Hells Angels.

A KelownaNow reporter at the scene says armed officers breached the entrance of the clubhouse shortly after 11 am and brought the canine unit in.

Similar operations are underway at two other Hells Angels clubhouses in BC, in Vancouver and Nanaimo.

BC's minister of public safety and solicitor general, Mike Farnworth is expected to release a statement about today's operations at some point this afternoon.

Today’s actions come two months after BC’s highest court ruled that the province could seize the three clubhouses because the bikers were likely to continue using the properties for illegal activities.

That decision from the BC Court of Appeal overturned a 2020 ruling in BC Supreme Court that permitted the Hells Angels to retain ownership of the three properties.

The February court decision and today’s seizures are the culmination of a 15-year legal battle between the biker gang and the province over the properties.

KelownaNow will update this story as it develops.