$11 million for Hells Angels trial

QUEBEC CITY – The mega-trial of 154 Hells Angels charged with murder, drug trafficking and gangsterism could cost taxpayers $11 million, a third of which is for defence lawyers.

The bikers were rounded up in Project SharQc, an April 2009 police operation that dealt a crippling blow to the Hells Angels in Eastern Canada. The suspects face charges including first-degree murder, gangsterism, drug trafficking and conspiracy to commit murder.

They’ll be tried en masse in Montreal, likely next spring, in a process that’s expected to last nine months.