Quebec Biker War

The Quebec Biker War (French: Guerre des motards au Québec) was a gang war in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, lasting from 1994 to 2002, between the Quebec branch of the Hells Angels and the Rock Machine. The war left 162 people dead, including civilians. There were also 84 bombings and 130 cases of arson. The conflict began when the Hells' Angels issued an ultimatum to monopolize the Montreal drug market. Rock Machine rejected the ultimatum, leading to escalating violence and retaliation. The Hells' Angels consistently maintained the upper-hand during the conflict, being vastly wealthier and more organized. Rock Machine sought international help from The Bandidos and local drug dealers. The Quebec government, Royal Canadian Mounted Police, and the federal government struggled to build a case to convict the lead figures of the war. The war came to end as the police managed to arrest gang members with new evidence in 2001, and with the murder conviction of Quebec Hells' Angel leader Maurice Boucher. In March 2002, American journalist Julian Rubinstein wrote about the biker war: "Considering how little attention the story has attracted outside Canada, the toll is staggering: 162 dead, scores wounded. The victims include an 11-year-old boy killed by shrapnel from one of the more than 80 bombs bikers planted around the province. Even the New York Mafia in its heyday never produced such carnage, or so terrorized civilians."