- Details
-
Category: News
-
Created: Sunday, 08 April 2007 15:48
-
Published: Sunday, 08 April 2007 15:18
-
Written by Peter Edwards, The Toronto Star
-
Hits: 5698

Ontario Provincial Police Commissioner Julian Fantino announces the details of raids on the Hells Angels in Toronto Thursday. Fantino praised the effort as a prime example of nationwide police cooperation, calling it "a good day for policing in Toronto, a good day for policing in Ontario and a good day for policing in Canada."
Brent Foster/National Post |
Alleged associate of Hells Angels gang fought ruling to send him back to Iran
One of the men arrested in sweeping raids against the Hells Angels biker gang last week was ordered deported from Canada in 1999, after running up a string of criminal convictions that included five robberies.
Omid Romando Bayani, 32, is a member of the little-known biker group in British Columbia called United Nations, and he's considered by police to be an associate of the far stronger Hells Angels.
Bayani remains in custody in Toronto after being charged Wednesday with trafficking in the date rape drug GHB, conspiracy to traffic in a controlled substance, and commission of an offence for a criminal organization. His bail hearing is expected Tuesday.
The police operation, dubbed Project Develop, involved raids at dawn on clubhouses in Toronto, Durham, Peel, York Region, Niagara Falls, Waterloo, Barrie, London and Hamilton and locations in B.C. and New Brunswick.
Police seized guns, nine kilograms of cocaine, more than $500,000 and 600 litres of GHB.
{josquote}...he was a stateless victim of religious persecution, whose father was murdered by Iranian fundamentalists for following the Baha'i faith...{/josquote}
Twenty-eight of the 31 people arrested in Wednesday's raids are from Ontario, with the others from B.C. and New Brunswick. Eighteen were members of the Hells Angels and three have been granted bail.
Bayani was ordered deported eight years ago, after being found guilty of five armed robberies in Red Deer, Alta. He has launched a string of unsuccessful challenges to that order.
Full story...
Other sources:
Arrested gangster has avoided deportation for eight years (Vancouver Sun)
Iranian immigrants facing deportation (The Edmonton Sun, 2001)