A high-profile B.C. Hells Angel convicted of smuggling cocaine and methamphetamine into Canada has been granted day parole, despite his continued membership in the notorious biker gang.

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The Parole Board of Canada said in a Feb. 10 ruling that Jason Cyrus Arkinstall, 52, must not associate or communicate with his biker gang-mates or possess more than one cellphone during his six months on day parole.

B.C. Hells Angel caught with duffel bags full of drugs at border gets day parole Back to video

Board members Carol-Ann Reynen and Jennifer Strachan said the special conditions were necessary “in order to protect society, and to facilitate your successful reintegration into society.”

“You have been open about your association to a recognized OMG (outlaw motorcycle gang) in Canada in which you have been a member for many years,” their written ruling said.

“While you deny having committed your crime in relation to this group, it is evident from police information that the level and quantity of drugs suggests high-level organized crime.”

Arkinstall was sentenced to six years and three months in prison in October 2022 after he tried to bring 90 kilograms of meth and 118 kilograms of cocaine into B.C. from Idaho on Oct. 23, 2020.

U.S. border agents spotted Arkinstall and a friend near the border with five duffel bags full of drugs. The two men fled but were later arrested on the Canadian side of the border.

He pleaded guilty in September 2021 to importing the illegal substances.

The recent parole decision acknowledged problems with Arkinstall’s “institutional conduct” including fighting, refusing to provide a urine sample, and verbal abuse toward staff.

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“Since your arrival in federal custody, you have assaulted another offender on your living unit. Force was used to stop the fight,” the board members said. “There is also information that you attempted to set up a poker game on the sports field. In February of 2024, you held a party on two occasions in the gymnasium with other members of your OMG.”

The Correctional Service Canada opposed Arkinstall’s release on day parole. The parole board ruling notes that while he wanted to be sent to a community residential facility in the Fraser Valley, none would take him because of his Hells Angels membership.

“Consultation with police indicates they do not approve of your release in the area,” the board members added.

Despite the concerns, board members Reynen and Strachan said that Arkinstall would get statutory release in less than a year anyway and day parole would help “reintegration into society as a law-abiding citizen.” They noted that he had been involved in programming and “made some gains in your insight.”

“Your institutional behaviour in the past was somewhat concerning, especially as it related to continuing adherence to criminal or anti-establishment values but has notably improved in recent months,” they said.

Arkinstall told the parole board that his crime was “spur of the moment” and a result of losing money on some bad investments. The street value of the drugs smuggled was estimated to be worth $17 million.

Arkinstall, a long time member of the Mission City Hells Angel chapter, told the parole board that his chapter “is made up of generally noncriminal, `taxpaying’ members,” the ruling said.

But Mission City is among three Hells Angels chapters sued in December by the B.C. government, which is seeking forfeiture of their clubhouses for alleged links to criminality.

“The Hardside chapter, Mission chapter, and Haney chapter are each a criminal organization,” the lawsuit, filed by the B.C. director of civil forfeiture on Dec. 2, said. “Members of the Hardside chapter, Mission chapter, and Haney chapter have used the Hells Angels’ reputation for violence for the purpose of intimidation and other unlawful activity, all for material gain of the chapters and their respective membership.”

So far none of the Hells Angels chapters or members named as defendants, which includes Arkinstall, have filed a response.

kbolan@postmedia.com

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Blueksy: @kimbolan.bsky.social