Hells Angel testifies in his drug trafficking trial

A Saskatoon Hells Angel testified in his own defence Wednesday at his trial on a charge of cocaine trafficking.
 
Rob Allen, 36, was among 14 men arrested in Project Forseti, a long-term police operation that culminated in a dramatic series of raids in January 2015.
 
Clubhouses of the Hells Angels and Fallen Saints motorcycle clubs were among the locations targeted.
 
Allen is accused of arranging to have a kilogram of cocaine shipped to Saskatoon from Ontario, based on evidence provided by Noel Harder.
 
Harder admitted to running a $250,000-a-month cocaine trafficking operation in the early 2000’s before being caught and serving just over 10 months in jail.

He told court he became a police agent in 2014 in order to dodge 33 charges of illegally transporting firearms. 

Harder said the deal he signed with police also provided for a $300,000 payment and additional per diems for his services.
 
Previously, court heard audio recordings of conversations between Harder and Allen. 
 
The two never openly talked about drugs — Harder testified they used code words, hand gestures and written notes because Allen was paranoid that police might be listening.
 
Harder also admitted that he started selling Allen OxyContin and other opiates shortly after meeting him at a restaurant in 2013. 

He said he stopped dealing pills after signing on as a police agent, but admitted to giving Allen drugs on one final occasion when the Hells Angel came to him suffering from withdrawal.
 
Testifying in his own defence, Allen said he got hooked on opiates after suffering from back pain.

He said Harder was his sole source of drugs, except for a few occasions where Harder arranged for others to sell him pills.
 
Allen testified that Harder pestered him constantly about using his contacts with Hells Angels in Ontario to get cocaine.
 
Under questioning from the Crown, Allen insisted he never had any way of actually getting cocaine delivered to Saskatoon, but said he strung Harder along in order to avoid losing his source of pills.
 
In earlier testimony, Harder acknowledged that Allen often delayed meetings or came up with reasons why his Hells Angels friends in Ontario couldn’t meet up.
 
He acknowledged that police instructed him to contact Allen numerous times over a period of nearly year, but that he never actually got any cocaine.
 
Under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, the Crown can secure a trafficking conviction by proving there was an offer to sell drugs, even if no drugs actually change hands.