By Mike Fox In Montreal

One of the presumed leaders of the Hell's Angels in Canada has been found guilty of ordering the murder of two prison guards.

Quebec biker boss Maurice "Mom" Boucher faces at least 25 years in jail.

His trial is only one high-profile case which has thrown the spotlight on the major role bikers play in controlling Canada's illegal drug trade, and revealed lurid details of their operating methods.

A trial of 17 other Hell's Angels and their associates started last month - both cases rely heavily on two police informants.

Prosecutors said that one of them became a "full patch" member of the Hell's Angels, and wore a concealed recorder to gather crucial evidence.

Second trial

The Mom Boucher trial has been closely followed by the media and the general public.

Now Quebeckers are hoping... the lawlessness of recent years is controlled

It is the second time he has been tried for ordering the killings - his acquittal in 1998 shocked the country.

At the time it seemed that the authorities could not control the bikers.

Since 1994 the Hell's Angels had waged a violent war in Quebec against the rival Rock Machine for control of the estimated $700m a year drug trade.

Around 160 people were killed, including nine people with no connection to the gangs, among them an 11 year-old-boy.

But two years ago an appeal court ruled that the judge had misdirected the jury in the Boucher trial - and two days after a high profile "peace" meeting with his Rock Machine rival leader, Boucher was arrested.

Then last March, the police staged Operation Springtime, during which 138 people connected to the Hell's Angels were arrested - the trial of 17 is the first of several due this year as a result.

Police co-operation

The raids followed four years of painstaking work where for the first time police from three different forces in Quebec co-operated.

For years they had been criticised for failing to share information and resources properly.

The federal government helped with a new anti-gang law, and local governments closed loopholes which allowed bikers to build fortified "bunkers".

Yet there are still sporadic bombings and shootings throughout the province as the bikers vie for territory.

Now Quebeckers are hoping that the operations and several since mark a new era where the lawlessness of recent years is controlled.

Penelope Lacroix grew up in the St Henri neighbourhood of central Montreal, and says everyone knew where the local Hell's Angels "bunker" or headquarters was.

"It was the safest street or most dangerous, depending on who you were," she says.

"If you were a normal person it was one of the safest streets in the city - there was almost no chance that your car would be broken into there, because normal criminals were so in awe of them."

But 37-year-old Ms Lacroix says she hopes their grip on Quebec's drugs and prostitution rackets may now be loosening. "It's high time that the authorities got rid of them."

Biker phenomenon

"Everyone's watching to see what happens with these trials, hopefully it'll show that they're finally getting on top."

The trial of Mom Boucher has provided graphic details of how the bikers operate.

It's a completely different situation across the border in Ontario - it's like a free world because the police there are like we were 20 years ago

Guy Ouellet, retired police officer

It included testimony from Hell's follower turned informer Stephane (Godasse) Gagne, who is already in jail for helping organise the killings.

His evidence revealed how the bikers would "fix" the wholesale and street price of cocaine at "summit" meetings of different chapters.

Any dealer trying to undercut the price would face threats and possible violence if they failed to fall into line.

Ontario gangs 'expand'

Retired police officer Guy Ouellet said the actions against the bikers have destabilised their organisations in Quebec, with 75 out of the provinces 120 full Hells Angels members either in jail or facing judicial action of some sort.

"But it's a completely different situation across the border in Ontario," he says. The Hell's Angels are reported to have expanded their operations there significantly in recent months.

"It's like a free world because the police there are like we were 20 years ago, they don't know how to adjust to what's happening."

Guy Ouellet and others are hoping they can learn lessons from the Quebec experience, rather than making the same mistakes again.