Man found dead in Vancouver was high-profile Hells Angel

A full-patch Hells Angel with the Hardside Chapter was found murdered under the Golden Ears Bridge on Sunday.

Chad Wilson, a former Hells Angel in San Diego, then Haney, joined the biker gang’s newest chapter when it formed last year.

Several of his friends had reported him missing the night before his body was found in the 20000-block of Wharf Street, Postmedia has learned.

Firefighters were first called to the scene about 11:30 a.m. Sunday.

They immediately called in the Mounties when they found Wilson’s body.

Friends of Wilson’s, wearing their death-head patched Hells Angels vests, soon showed up at thescene.

The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team is working with Ridge Meadows RCMP on the case.

Wilson’s name had not been released by police, but fellow bikers and family were already paying tribute to the dead 43-year-old on Sunday night. Wilson was a highprofile and popular member of the Hells Angels and his murder is expected to increase the volatility in the Lower Mainland gang landscape.

Police are saying only that Wilson’s death was targeted and that he was known to police.

In fact, he was known to police in several parts of the world. In 2013, Wilson was charged in Spain with B.C. Hells Angel Jason Arkinstall and two associates after police there seized half a tonne of cocaine from a sailboat that had arrived from Colombia. The Spanish government said one of the B.C. bikers was on the vessel, while the others were waiting in Spain. They were arrested in a restaurant in Pontevedra, in the northwest of Spain.

Officials said the drug conspiracy was linked to a member of the San Diego chapter of the Hells Angels — the same chapter that Wilson had joined as a prospect on Jan. 28, 2005.