There has been several references to Canadian cartel connections at the New York trial of Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman including testimony by his former “right-hand man” this week that the man hired Canadian Hells Angels to kill a drug dealer. The hit never went ahead. I am trying to get more information on this, but in the meantime have written this story:

A key government witness at the trial of Mexican Sinaloa cartel leader Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman testified in New York this week that he met with Canadian Hells Angels on behalf of the cartel to arrange the hit of a drug dealer.

The witness, Guzman’s former right-hand man Alex Cifuentes, said the hit on the dealer was never completed, according to the New York Times and other media outlets covering the trial. Cifuentes, a Colombian, provided no details of who in the notorious biker gang he contacted.

Sgt. Brenda Winpenny, of the anti-gang Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit, said Wednesday that the testimony about a link between Canadian Hells Angels and Mexico’s Sinaloa cartel is not startling news to law enforcement.

“It is no surprise that this information is coming to light, as the arms of the Hells Angels, especially Canadian Hells Angels, are far-reaching locally, nationally, and internationally,” Winpenny said. “The scope of their criminal involvement in the drug trade and other ventures is global and, as we’ve seen time and time again, there is almost always violence associated to it.”

In his 2018 book Hunting El Chapo, former U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agent Andrew Hogan described Guzman’s deep links to Canada and B.C. in particular.

Hogan said Sinaloa cocaine would be moved across the Arizona border and up to the Washington-B.C. border “where the loads would be thrown on private helicopters. The birds would jump the border and drop the coke out among the tall lodgepole pines of British Columbia.”

“Chapo’s men had connections with sophisticated Iranian organized-crime gangs in Canada,” Hogan wrote. “A network of outlaw bikers — primarily Hells Angels — were also moving his cocaine overland and selling it to retail dealers throughout the country.”

Hogan also said he and the other officers working on the special task force to capture Guzman “were caught off guard by his deep infiltration of Canada.”

He noted that Guzman had a young Sinaloa man set up as a college student in Vancouver in about 2009 “to run his drug distribution and money collection throughout Canada.”

The Vancouver Sun reported on some of Guzman’s cartel connections in B.C. in 2014. His cartel contacts in Metro Vancouver were dropping off hockey bags stuffed with hundreds of thousands of dollars destined for Guzman’s U.S. bank accounts. One of the B.C. men later convicted in California in the Sinaloa case was connected to Montreal’s West End gang and some B.C. Hells Angels, according to court documents obtained at the time.

Former RCMP Supt. Pat Fogarty said Wednesday that the Hells Angels had “a continuous working relationship” with other Canadian organized crime groups and with Mexican and other cartels.

Through their connections, the groups “facilitated the transport, distribution and financial requirements for cocaine distribution in Canada,” said Fogarty, now CEO of the Fathom Research Group.

Hells Angels spokesman Rick Ciarniello did not respond to a request for a comment on the testimony at the Guzman trial.

kbolan@postmedia.com

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Hundreds of potential jurors for the upcoming Jamie Bacon trial gathered Saturday at the Vancouver Law Courts for a rare weekend sitting.

There were so many who received notices for the Feb. 4 trial that they filled three courtrooms on the fifth floor, a section of the great hall on the fourth floor and most of the public gallery and lobby of Courtroom 20 — the high-security basement courtroom specially constructed for the Air India terrorism case.

There was even a refreshment table outside Courtroom 20 with free coffee, tea, water and snacks for the roughly 580 members of the public who attended.

All the potential jurors were connected to Courtroom 20 by video monitors so they could listen as B.C. Supreme Court Justice Catherine Wedge explained the process of whittling the large group down to 14 jurors and two alternates.

Bacon, a former Abbotsford resident, is charged with counselling an associate to murder another associate between Nov. 30, 2008 and Jan. 2, 2009. The man survived the alleged murder plot.

There are several sweeping publication bans in place for the trial, which is scheduled to run for 10 weeks once it begins next month.

Bacon stood up in the prisoner’s box as the charge he faces was read aloud Saturday. Asked for his plea, he responded clearly: “Not guilty.”

Wedge told the jury pool that “all of us involved in the administration of justice are well aware of the inconvenience that jury duty may cause you — witness all of you here today on a Saturday.

“However, we are fortunate to live in a free country where the rule of law prevails and one of the most important fundamental rights is the right to trial by a jury.

“One of your responsibilities as citizens of Canada is to participate in the system of justice by acting as jurors from time to time, and both society and the law greatly benefit from your experience.”

She explained that Canadian law allows just 12 jurors to deliberate and reach a verdict.

“However in certain cases, the trial may begin with 13 or 14 jurors. Given the anticipated length of this trial, which is approximately 50 days, I have decided it is in the interests of justice to select 14 jurors in this case,” Wedge added. “That is to ensure that a complete jury is available to deliberate.”

Wedge said she would do a random draw to select the two jurors who will be excused before deliberations.

She said two alternate jurors would also be selected in case the other 14 are not all available at the commencement of the trial.

The hundreds who attended Saturday were broken into groups of 40 by a random draw. Each group was assigned a time and date to return to court next week, where they will be questioned individually in the second phase of jury selection, she said.

“In this case, the law also allows counsel to challenge the jury panel for cause by inquiring from each of you as to whether or not you are able to judge this case impartially due to pretrial publicity,” Wedge said.

“Every juror must be impartial, which means that every juror must approach the case with an open mind and without preconceived ideas.”

She noted that if any of the potential jurors had any association to anyone involved in the case, they had to inform her when they return to court next week.

Just before Saturday’s proceedings began, sheriffs reminded potential jurors not to investigate or search for details of the case online or to tweet, blog or post any photos about the proceedings.

They were also told they would earn $20 a day for the first 10 days of the trial, rising to $60 daily for days 11 to 49 and up to $100 a day if the trial last 50 days or more.

kbolan@postmedia.com

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Hundreds of family and friends gathered at Delta’s Riverside Funeral Home Saturday to pay final respects to retired Abbotsford Police Sgt. Shinder Kirk.

Kirk, 59, died Dec. 22 in a two-vehicle collision near Nanaimo that left his wife Wendy and daughter Stephanie injured.

Kirk was a popular former media officer both for the Abbotsford Police Department and the anti-gang Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit.

His younger brother Rob thanked mourners Saturday for the outpouring of support and condolences following the tragic accident.

Some of the hundreds of social media tributes praising Kirk as a humble, dedicated police officer were read during Saturday’s service, including a tweet by Premier John Horgan calling Kirk “a warm and caring man, dedicated to fighting gang violence and a much admired leader in the South Asian community.”

Other tributes from police forces around B.C. were also read.

Rob Kirk said the death was particularly tragic given that his brother “put his life on the line every day when he went to work and made it through virtually unscathed, but then ends up leaving us in a fleeting moment.

“Shinder was just a nice human being who was always willing to roll up his sleeves and help someone out,” Rob Kirk said. “It makes you ponder the thought — why do bad things happen to good people?”

He recalled looking up to his elder brother, who instilled in him a love of airplanes, as well as rock music and the B.C. Lions.

Shinder Kirk was born in Punjab, India, and immigrated with his parents and siblings in 1961 when he was just a toddler. He grew up in Richmond and loved playing sports.

Before he entered the police academy in 1981 at age 22, Kirk worked delivering newspapers, on farms, in a sawmill and later in construction. He also got a pilot’s licence and qualified to fly commercially.

Kirk began his law enforcement career at the Vancouver Police Department, where “he went from being a regular beat cop to working in traffic for the VPD.”

“When he moved over to Abby, he was part of the canine unit as well as traffic and he eventually became their media spokesman,” Rob Kirk said. “I will admit there was a silent pride I had knowing the line of work he did.”

Once Kirk was seconded to the anti-gang policing agency, he was a regular fixture in the media and did educational programs for at-risk kids. He worked on two “Teens Against Gangs” projects with The Vancouver Sun.

“Later in his career when he was in the public eye, I would get asked more often if he was related to me and I did feel a sense of pride,” his brother said.

After Kirk retired as a police officer in 2012, he continued working at the APD as a commissionaire. He also travelled from Abbotsford to Richmond twice a week to care for his 94-year-old father.

Rob Kirk said their father is particularly hard hit by the death of his eldest son.

“What I can say is this has devastated us,” he said.

A public memorial service for Kirk will also be held Saturday, Jan. 26, at 1 p.m. at Central Heights Church (1661 McCallum Rd.) in Abbotsford.

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I was the only reporter at the Vancouver Law Courts Saturday for the beginning of the jury selection process for Jamie Bacon’s upcoming trial.

It was fairly extraordinary event – more potential jurors there than I have ever seen in 34 years covering courts. It will likely take several days until the jury is picked.

Bacon was there and looked like he was very fit, wearing a black shirt, vest and grey pants.

Please remember that there are MANY bans in place which is why there might be material you think should be in this story that is not there. Most of the bans are just for the duration of that trial, though the names of some witnesses will be protected indefinitely.

Here’s my story:

I remember that I was out Christmas shopping last month when someone texted me about the sad news that Shinder Kirk had been killed in a car accident. It was devastating to hear. Shinder was the former media officer for the Integrated Gang Task Force, which later become the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit. He was dedicated to tackling gang violence and we worked together on a couple of projects under the Teens Against Gangs banner. There will be a big community memorial service in Abbotsford next Saturday that I am sure will be well-attended.

There was a funeral in Delta yesterday for family, friends and some colleagues.

Here’s my story on that:

Four guards from the Fraser Regional Correctional Centre will appear in Port Coquitlam provincial court on Monday charged with assault causing bodily harm for an alleged attack on an prisoner more than a year ago.

Charges against the four — Matthew Black, Luke Poelzer, Ryan Saunders and Neil Stirton — were laid in November 2018 in connection with an incident at the Maple Ridge institution on Sept. 18, 2017.

The alleged victim, Anthanios-Tom Mavros, has a history of mental illness and interactions with police and the court system. At the time, he was serving a 284-day sentence after pleading guilty to robbery on July 24, 2017.

Postmedia has learned that the Correctional Centre’s warden was fired after the confrontation involving the guards.

Luke Poelzer from Facebook

B.C. Corrections spokesperson Cindy Rose said in an emailed statement that she couldn’t comment on the assault allegation or the rare criminal charges laid against government employees.

“While I can’t comment on the matters currently before the courts, I can say generally that B.C. Corrections is committed to ensuring the duties of all staff are carried out as required by policy and the law,” her statement said. “Correctional officers are held to high standards of conduct — and as peace officers, they receive extensive training in a variety of disciplines, including de-escalation and the use of force.”

She implied that there is an internal review into what happened, though wouldn’t confirm any details.

“Any time a serious incident takes place, an internal review is conducted to help mitigate any future occurrences,” Rose said.

Union vice-president Dean Purdy also said he couldn’t comment on the charges since the matter is both before the courts and in arbitration. But Postmedia obtained a copy of a bulletin Purdy sent to union members last month.

“Four of our own are facing criminal charges after coming to the aid of a fellow correctional officer, who was violently attacked,” said Purdy, of the B.C. Government and Service Employees Union. “In September 2017, a living unit officer (guard) at a regional correctional centre in the Lower Mainland was the victim of an unprovoked, violent attack by an inmate. A number of your brothers and sisters responded to this emergency and eventually secured the prisoner.”

Purdy said that eight of the responding officers were fired and six more were disciplined.

He noted that at the time Crown laid charges against the four, they and others had been “engaged in a labour relations dispute since December 2017 and the matter is currently in arbitration.”

“Without prejudicing the case, we note that this situation could happen to any one of us working in corrections and sheriff services,” he said. “The union will vigorously defend our members, despite the lack of support from the employer. We are all on trial every day, so we must stand together and support our colleagues.”

Mavros, 37, has been before provincial court judges more than 20 times since 2004 when he was convicted in Prince George of assault with a weapon and got two years probation.

In 2011, Vancouver Police issued a news release saying Mavros was missing and his family was worried.

Anthanios-Tom Mavros photo released by Vancouver Police in 2011

Police described him as bi-polar and suffering from schizophrenia and obsessive compulsive disorder. And the news release said that when he didn’t take his medication, he was “known to become violent.”

Since the Sept. 2017 incident with guards, Mavros was released from jail, then charged again in June 2018 for breaching probation. He got a day in jail.

On Oct. 29, 2018, he pleaded guilty to assault with a weapon in Surrey and was sentenced to another three months in jail.

Speaking generally, union official Purdy said about 60 per cent of inmates in B.C.’s 10 jails “have both mental health and addictions issues.”

“We are not becoming the default mental health facilities. We are the mental health facilities in this province that take the overflow of people who really belong in institutions but end up in jail for various reasons,” Purdy said.

“We do have dedicated mental health living units inside the jails and even those are not enough — the inmates that aren’t able to be housed in those living units are basically roaming around in the general population or the protective custody units and they just don’t belong there.”

kbolan@postmedia.com

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It is unusual when correctional officers face charges in connection with their daily interactions with inmates in B.C. jails. Four guards are in jail today, charged with assault causing bodily harm for an incident in Sept. 2017. Their union says they were defending a colleague who was being attacked. And the union says police initially did not recommend any charges be laid. But the B.C. Prosecution Service approved the charge in November.

Here’s my story:

Four guards from the Fraser Regional Correctional Centre will appear in Port Coquitlam provincial court on Monday charged with assault causing bodily harm for an alleged attack on an prisoner more than a year ago.

Charges against the four — Matthew Black, Luke Poelzer, Ryan Saunders and Neil Stirton — were laid in November 2018 in connection with an incident at the Maple Ridge institution on Sept. 18, 2017.

The alleged victim, Anthanios-Tom Mavros, has a history of mental illness and interactions with police and the court system. At the time, he was serving a 284-day sentence after pleading guilty to robbery on July 24, 2017.

Postmedia has learned that the Correctional Centre’s warden was fired after the confrontation involving the guards.

B.C. Corrections spokesperson Cindy Rose said in an emailed statement that she couldn’t comment on the assault allegation or the rare criminal charges laid against government employees.

“While I can’t comment on the matters currently before the courts, I can say generally that B.C. Corrections is committed to ensuring the duties of all staff are carried out as required by policy and the law,” her statement said. “Correctional officers are held to high standards of conduct — and as peace officers, they receive extensive training in a variety of disciplines, including de-escalation and the use of force.”

She implied that there is an internal review into what happened, though wouldn’t confirm any details.

“Any time a serious incident takes place, an internal review is conducted to help mitigate any future occurrences,” Rose said.

Union vice-president Dean Purdy also said he couldn’t comment on the charges since the matter is both before the courts and in arbitration. But Postmedia obtained a copy of a bulletin Purdy sent to union members last month.

“Four of our own are facing criminal charges after coming to the aid of a fellow correctional officer, who was violently attacked,” said Purdy, of the B.C. Government and Service Employees Union. “In September 2017, a living unit officer (guard) at a regional correctional centre in the Lower Mainland was the victim of an unprovoked, violent attack by an inmate. A number of your brothers and sisters responded to this emergency and eventually secured the prisoner.”

Purdy said that eight of the responding officers were fired and six more were disciplined.

He noted that at the time Crown laid charges against the four, they and others had been “engaged in a labour relations dispute since December 2017 and the matter is currently in arbitration.”

“Without prejudicing the case, we note that this situation could happen to any one of us working in corrections and sheriff services,” he said. “The union will vigorously defend our members, despite the lack of support from the employer. We are all on trial every day, so we must stand together and support our colleagues.”

Mavros, 37, has been before provincial court judges more than 20 times since 2004 when he was convicted in Prince George of assault with a weapon and got two years probation.

In 2011, Vancouver Police issued a news release saying Mavros was missing and his family was worried.

Anthanios-Tom Mavros photo released by Vancouver Police in 2011

Police described him as bi-polar and suffering from schizophrenia and obsessive compulsive disorder. And the news release said that when he didn’t take his medication, he was “known to become violent.”

Since the Sept. 2017 incident with guards, Mavros was released from jail, then charged again in June 2018 for breaching probation. He got a day in jail.

On Oct. 29, 2018, he pleaded guilty to assault with a weapon in Surrey and was sentenced to another three months in jail.

Speaking generally, union official Purdy said about 60 per cent of inmates in B.C.’s 10 jails “have both mental health and addictions issues.”

“We are not becoming the default mental health facilities. We are the mental health facilities in this province that take the overflow of people who really belong in institutions but end up in jail for various reasons,” Purdy said.

“We do have dedicated mental health living units inside the jails and even those are not enough — the inmates that aren’t able to be housed in those living units are basically roaming around in the general population or the protective custody units and they just don’t belong there.”

kbolan@postmedia.com

blog: vancouversun.com/tag/real-scoop

twitter.com/kbolan

A Vancouver man who sells cannabis edibles online says he has figured out who used his company name to distribute pot-laced candies outside a trade show earlier this month.

Adam Osborne, owner of Earth’s Edibles, said he has spoken to the people behind the candy handout and told them he doesn’t appreciate that they used packaging with his company’s name on it without his knowledge or permission.

The business that Osborne says distributed the candy does not show up on corporate records in Victoria. Postmedia reached out to companies with similar names in Calgary and the U.S. Thursday. The Calgary company said it was “not linked” to the candy.  The U.S. company did not respond.

Vancouver police said they continue to investigate, Sgt. Jason Robillard said earlier this week.

Osborne said he spoke to the VPD and explained that the candies left on vehicles had nothing to do with him or his company.

He said despite his company’s name being on the packaging, the logo was not the one he uses.

“Why would I have somebody else’s logo on there?” he said. “We don’t even have those products.”

He said his company caters to medicinal cannabis users through gourmet meals like butter chicken, Italian sausage pasta and pizzas. The company’s website also displays various strains of cannabis flowers.

“We are trying to create a lifestyle brand. We are probably going to shut down over this,” said Osborne, who is trying to move his headquarters to the U.S. “We don’t want the bad press. We have never targeted kids.”

Osborne admitted he has no licence to sell cannabis and said he likely won’t apply for one in B.C. given that he has a criminal record in the U.S. for conspiracy to distribute MDMA.

In 2009, he was sentenced to two years in jail after reaching a plea deal in Washington state in a drug conspiracy case. U.S. court documents indicate Osborne was originally charged with conspiracy to distribute and export more than five kilograms of cocaine from Washington to Canada.

He pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of using a telephone or BlackBerry to facilitate the distribution of controlled substances.

The agreed statement of facts said that Osborne, while living in California in 2007 and 2008, “met up with people engaged in distributing controlled substances including MDMA and cocaine.

“During this time, while in the western district of Washington, Osborne used his cellular telephone and BlackBerry device to distribute controlled substances, including the importation and distribution of MDMA.

Osborne said his past has nothing to do with his current business, which he incorporated in B.C. in February 2008 as EE Cuisine Inc.

“I was younger. I made mistakes when I was younger,” he said of his U.S. conviction. “I realize obviously I am not going to be the first contender for somebody to get a licence for anything.”

Richmond-Queensborough Liberal MLA Jas Johal said Osborne’s criminal history is troubling.

“It’s incredibly concerning what Postmedia has uncovered. The fact an individual with a drug conspiracy conviction is running a cannabis edibles company … is a damning indictment of the NDP government and its so called safety-first message,” he said. “There is little to no vigilance under this government.”

Johal said “significant discussion” is needed about how to regulate edibles.

Earth’s Edibles website

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It’s my fifth year in my amazing Sun Run clinic at Vancouver’s Hillcrest community centre. Those of us who’ve been attending for years have gotten to know each other pretty well and try to keep up the group training year-round. And we also try to get together a few times a year in a non-running capacity, which is just another one of the side benefits of this great training program!

2018 was pretty rough for me — life-wise and definitely running-wise. I had a fairly serious hamstring injury just a week after completing the Sun Run last April. The injury kept me from running for a few months, though I was able to cycle and swim and generally stay active. Erin Lynn, my physiotherapist,  helped me get back running by the fall, slowly at first and making sure I continued to stretch that pesky hamstring.

Just when I was thinking running was going well again in late November, I tripped in a pothole in a dark parking lot and ended up with a bad ankle sprain. The first thing I thought was — `oh no, I won’t be able to do my Sun Run training!’ In fact, I wondered if my running days were behind me — other friends, who like me are in their late-50s, have stopped running because of bad knees or hips or backs.

But again, my physiotherapist got me on the right path — taking it easy at first, doing the right exercises to strengthen the injured ankle and not starting to run too soon (it’s very easy to re-roll an injured ankle if you try to run on it within the first few weeks, Erin said.)

So when Sun Run training started last week, I hadn’t run in seven weeks! Instead of joining my Run Stronger group, I decided it made more sense to restart one level lower in the Run10K group. It has been a perfect way to get back at it — alternating running and walking to build up stamina. Our group is enthusiastic and supportive.

And now I have completed week two of the training and feeling great!

kbolan@postmedia.com

Two Vancouver residents linked to an unlicensed Richmond money business say police violated their Charter rights while conducting searches of their offices in October 2015.

And Caixuan Qin, a director of Silver International, and her spouse Jian Jun Zhu deny that millions in cash and property seized by police at the time were obtained with the proceeds of criminal activity.

Lawyers for the couple, as well as Qin’s businesses — Silver International and The Style Travel Inc. — just filed their responses to a lawsuit filed last month by the B.C. civil forfeiture office.

The documents say the couple denies “the existence of any legal basis” for the forfeiture claims by the B.C. government agency.

The director of civil forfeiture alleged in its lawsuit that property and assets worth more than $4 million should be forfeited to the government because they were obtained through criminal activity.

Qin, Zhu and Silver International were charged in September 2017 with laundering the proceeds of crime, possession of property obtained by crime and failing to ascertain the identity of a client.

The charges stemmed from a massive RCMP investigation dubbed E-Pirate that alleged the company had laundered hundreds of millions of dollars from various organized crime groups trying to clean their profits from drug trafficking.

But those charges were stayed in November 2018 without explanation from the Public Prosecution Service of Canada.

Related

• Criminal charges stayed in major B.C. money-laundering investigation

And Zhu and Qin noted in their court documents that they “are no longer charged with any criminal offence in relation to those matters described in the notice of civil claim.”

The government claim says Qin’s $2.3-million Vancouver house, $2 million in cash, River Rock Casino chips and gift cards seized by police during the searches are all the proceeds of crime.

Zhu and Qin denied that Silver International laundered criminals’ cash. They denied that the second company, Style Travel, also laundered funds.

They also denied any link to cocaine, marijuana bud, a hand-stun device, counterfeit identification cards, a credit-card skimmer and eight boxes of rifle cartridges seized by police during the 2015 searches.

Some of the evidence obtained in the E-Pirate investigation are documented in the civil forfeiture lawsuit, including that Silver International created no customer profiles, as required by federal laws for money services businesses carrying out transactions of more than $1,000. Instead the ledgers were coded.

And Silver International did not register as a money services business as required by federal law until after the police raid in October 2015, the lawsuit said.

Police investigators were able to cross-reference the deposits and withdrawals of several of the biggest customers caught on surveillance with the code names in the ledger, according to the court filings.

“The customers (of Silver International) included individuals linked to drug production, trafficking, money laundering, homicide, assault, possession of property obtained by crime and counterfeiting instruments and extortion,” the civil forfeiture director alleged.

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Last month, the B.C. Director of Civil Forfeiture filed a lawsuit against Silver International Inc. and Vancouver residents Caixuan Qin,and Jian Jun Zhu – just a month after criminal charges against them had been stayed. Now the couple has filed its response, denying the allegations made by the B.C. government agency.

Here’s my story:

B.C. prosecutors have stayed a conspiracy to murder charge laid against a Calgary gangster who was allegedly part of a United Nations plot to slay rivals in B.C.’s Red Scorpions gang.

Billy Ly had been out on bail since the charge was laid in January 2016. But earlier this month, he learned that the case would no longer be going to trial in April 2019.

The reason given for the stay was that the Crown no longer had the same amount of evidence against Ly.

Cory Vallee in 2011 mug shots provided by police.

“I can advise that the conspiracy charge against Bill Ly was stayed on 15 January 2019, as it no longer met the charge approval standard,” Gord Comer, of the B.C. Prosecution Service, said in an email.

Ly, 35, had been arrested in the conspiracy case along with fellow Calgary gangster Troy Tran, 36. Tran’s trial was held last year in B.C. Supreme Court. The verdict in the case will be handed down later this month.

Ly’s trial was severed from Tran’s after Ly’s lawyer died suddenly in 2017, forcing a delay in his case.

The witnesses against Ly were expected to be some of the same former United Nations gangsters identified only as A, B, C and D, who testified at the trial of UN gang hitman Cory Vallee.

Vallee was convicted of first-degree murder, as well as conspiracy to commit murder, for the fatal shooting of Red Scorpion Kevin LeClair on Feb. 6, 2009, as well as plotting to kill Red Scorpion members and the Bacon brothers in 2008 and 2009.

Jamie Bacon (left) and Kevin LeClair, who was slain in Feb. 2009.

Last month, Justice Janice Dillon sentenced Vallee to two life terms with no parole eligibility on the murder count for 25 years.

Dillon made several references to Ly’s alleged role in the murder plot in her Vallee verdict.

She said Ly was a “recognized member of the UN gang” who had rented a jeep used to hunt the Bacons outside a concert at GM Place in January 2009.

Ly was captured on wiretap telling another UN member that night “we have to like shoot ’em” and “to unload the whole thing.”

“Based upon this incident, Ly was probably a member of the conspiracy,” Dillon wrote in her 2018 ruling.

She also noted that witnesses A and B both testified that they, along with UN gang founder Clay Roueche and both Ly and Tran had “regular discussion about who was on the hit list and the bounty.”

The Vallee witnesses also said Ly was part of the UN missions to various locations around the Lower Mainland as they hunted their rivals.

The stay is not the first time Ly has had serious charges against him dropped.

Two years ago, a Calgary prosecutor stayed an attempted murder charge against Ly, who he described as a member of the Fresh Off the Boat Killers or FK.

The FK, which has close ties to B.C.’s UN gang, was locked in a bloody battle with its rivals from the Fresh Off the Boat or FOB gang.

Ly had been charged with stabbing rival FOB gangster Nick Chan in the neck outside a natural foods store in April 2013.

But two days into the trial, the Crown said he was directing a stay of proceedings because the witness identification evidence he called “didn’t come out as anticipated. ”

Another man identified at Vallee’s trial as a UN gang member, Kreshnik Ismailaj, was charged last year with first-degree murder in connection with the LeClair shooting.

Already several members and associates of the UN gang have been convicted for their role in the plot to kill the notorious siblings over several months in 2008 to 2009.

Still wanted in the murder conspiracy is Conor Vincent D’Monte, who is believed to have fled Canada in 2011.

kbolan@postmedia.com

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Earth’s Edibles is selling cannabis-infused frozen dinners online, as well as various strains of marijuana. What the company is not selling, owner Adam Osborne says, are the pot candies left on vehicles outside a trade show on Jan. 13.

I wrote an update on The Sun’s earlier story:

Cannabis edibles seller says he knows who used his company name to distribute pot-laced candies

KIM BOLAN
Updated: January 25, 2019

A Vancouver man who sells cannabis edibles online says he has figured out who used his company name to distribute pot-laced candies outside a trade show earlier this month.

Adam Osborne, owner of Earth’s Edibles, said he has spoken to the people behind the candy handout and told them he doesn’t appreciate that they used packaging with his company’s name on it without his knowledge or permission.

The business that Osborne says distributed the candy does not show up on corporate records in Victoria. Postmedia reached out to companies with similar names in Calgary and the U.S. Thursday. The Calgary company said it was “not linked” to the candy.  The U.S. company did not respond.

Vancouver police said they continue to investigate, Sgt. Jason Robillard said earlier this week.

Osborne said he spoke to the VPD and explained that the candies left on vehicles had nothing to do with him or his company.

He said despite his company’s name being on the packaging, the logo was not the one he uses.

“Why would I have somebody else’s logo on there?” he said. “We don’t even have those products.”

He said his company caters to medicinal cannabis users through gourmet meals like butter chicken, Italian sausage pasta and pizzas. The company’s website also displays various strains of cannabis flowers.

“We are trying to create a lifestyle brand. We are probably going to shut down over this,” said Osborne, who is trying to move his headquarters to the U.S. “We don’t want the bad press. We have never targeted kids.”

Osborne admitted he has no licence to sell cannabis and said he likely won’t apply for one in B.C. given that he has a criminal record in the U.S. for conspiracy to distribute MDMA.

In 2009, he was sentenced to two years in jail after reaching a plea deal in Washington state in a drug conspiracy case. U.S. court documents indicate Osborne was originally charged with conspiracy to distribute and export more than five kilograms of cocaine from Washington to Canada.

He pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of using a telephone or BlackBerry to facilitate the distribution of controlled substances.

The agreed statement of facts said that Osborne, while living in California in 2007 and 2008, “met up with people engaged in distributing controlled substances including MDMA and cocaine.

“During this time, while in the western district of Washington, Osborne used his cellular telephone and BlackBerry device to distribute controlled substances, including the importation and distribution of MDMA.

Osborne said his past has nothing to do with his current business, which he incorporated in B.C. in February 2008 as EE Cuisine Inc.

“I was younger. I made mistakes when I was younger,” he said of his U.S. conviction. “I realize obviously I am not going to be the first contender for somebody to get a licence for anything.”

Richmond-Queensborough Liberal MLA Jas Johal said Osborne’s criminal history is troubling.

“It’s incredibly concerning what Postmedia has uncovered. The fact an individual with a drug conspiracy conviction is running a cannabis edibles company … is a damning indictment of the NDP government and its so called safety-first message,” he said. “There is little to no vigilance under this government.”

Johal said “significant discussion” is needed about how to regulate edibles.

 

Earth’s Edibles website

kbolan@postmedia.com

blog: vancouversun.com/tag/real-scoop

twitter.com/kbolan

There have been several stays in high-profile criminal cases in B.C. courts in recent months – including in the big E-Pirate money laundering case. I was surprised when I learned that Calgary gangster Billy Ly would not be going to trial after all for conspiracy to kill rival Red Scorpion gangsters and the Bacon brothers more than a decade ago.

The charge against Ly, laid in January 2016, was recently stayed. And like in the other cases in which charges were stayed or dropped, prosecutors are not saying much about the reason why.

Here’s my story:

A B.C. man who has been linked to the Independent Soldiers gang is facing drug smuggling charges in Thailand.

Blair Curtis Stephens, 38, was arrested earlier this month in Bangkok, along with a Thai national. The head of the Thai Office of Narcotics Control Board said other Canadians are also involved in the smuggling operation, which was allegedly mailing heroin hidden in shock absorbers from Thailand to Australia.

B.C.’s anti-gang agency says Stephens left Canada about six years ago when he became the focus of law enforcement in this province.

“Blair Stephens is well known to police, has criminal connections, and has a significant criminal history related to the Okanagan area,” Sgt. Brenda Winpenny, of the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit, said Tuesday.

She said Stephens moved to Thailand in about 2013 “after increased attention due to his criminal activity” in Canada.

“Yet again, we have an example of an individual fleeing to another country escaping their criminality and associated violence.  However, as we have seen so many times before, their criminal activity catches up with them and in this case, resulted in an arrest and potential penalties in a foreign country,” she said.

Global Affairs Canada said in an emailed statement that officials are “aware of the arrest of a Canadian citizen in Thailand.”

“Canadian consular officials are in contact with local authorities to gather additional information. Due to the provisions of the Privacy Act, no further information can be disclosed,” Global Affairs spokesman Philip Hanan said.

B.C. gangster Blair Stephens (right) with his Thai co-accused Pahol Siwasirikarun. (Photo credit: Thai National Police)

Thailand has notoriously harsh sentences for drug trafficking — including life in prison or even the death penalty.

Thai news reports said Stephens was arrested with a Thai accomplice, Pahol Siwasirikarun, 27, on Jan. 19.

The arrests came after a joint Thai-Australia task force intercepted suspicious packages mailed to Australia on Jan. 17 that contained the heroin-laden shock observers. Police tracked the package back to Stephens.

Police seized about 3,740 grams of heroin, a kilo of marijuana and small amounts of ecstasy and cocaine as well as assets valued about approximately $350,000.

Thai official Niyom Termsrisuk told reporters at a Bangkok news conference Jan. 20 that authorities have already identified others in the criminal organization, all of whom are Canadians. He said they expect to make more arrests.

Stephens has several convictions from Vernon. He was sentenced to a year in jail in 2010 after pleading guilty to carrying a weapon, occupying a vehicle in which there was a firearm and possession for the purpose of trafficking. He also pleaded guilty that year to possession of a controlled substance and got another 30 days in jail.

Stephens is the brother of Derek James Stephens, also a gang associate currently awaiting trial on dozens of firearms charges.

Derek Stephens was charged in 2017 after a Vancouver police investigation called Project Tactic. His co-accused, Matthew Navas-Rivas, was shot to death last summer in East Vancouver.

Derek Stephens was sentenced in 2015 to four years in jail for his role in a Vancouver kidnapping orchestrated by associates and members of the Independent Soldiers gang. In 2012, he was sentenced to 11 months in jail for occupying a vehicle where there was a firearm. His co-accused in that 2010 case was Christopher Reddy, who was shot to death in 2011.

And in 2009, he was convicted in Vernon for possessing a firearm and was fined $650, plus given five-year firearms prohibition.

kbolan@postmedia.com

Blog: vancouversun.com/tag/real-scoop

twitter.com/kbolan

Related

• Real Scoop: Reporter Kim Bolan's criminal gangs blog
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• Police probe leads to dozens of charges against Red Scorpion, Kang gangsters
• The Sun's crime and justice coverage

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Another B.C. man is facing serious charges in Thailand. Blair Stephens, who is from the Okanagan, could get life in prison is convicted. His charges come after other BC men convicted on drug charges in other countries have faced some significant sentences – James Riach got a life sentence in the Philippines, Robert Schellenberg has been sentenced to death in China

Here’s my story:

A B.C. man who has been linked to the Independent Soldiers gang is facing drug smuggling charges in Thailand.

Blair Curtis Stephens, 38, was arrested earlier this month in Bangkok, along with a Thai national. The head of the Thai Office of Narcotics Control Board said other Canadians are also involved in the smuggling operation, which was allegedly mailing heroin hidden in shock absorbers from Thailand to Australia.

B.C.’s anti-gang agency says Stephens left Canada about six years ago when he became the focus of law enforcement in this province.

“Blair Stephens is well known to police, has criminal connections, and has a significant criminal history related to the Okanagan area,” Sgt. Brenda Winpenny, of the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit, said Tuesday.

She said Stephens moved to Thailand in about 2013 “after increased attention due to his criminal activity” in Canada.

“Yet again, we have an example of an individual fleeing to another country escaping their criminality and associated violence.  However, as we have seen so many times before, their criminal activity catches up with them and in this case, resulted in an arrest and potential penalties in a foreign country,” she said.

Global Affairs Canada said in an emailed statement that officials are “aware of the arrest of a Canadian citizen in Thailand.”

“Canadian consular officials are in contact with local authorities to gather additional information. Due to the provisions of the Privacy Act, no further information can be disclosed,” Global Affairs spokesman Philip Hanan said.

Thailand has notoriously harsh sentences for drug trafficking — including life in prison or even the death penalty.

Thai news reports said Stephens was arrested with a Thai accomplice, Pahol Siwasirikarun, 27, on Jan. 19.

The arrests came after a joint Thai-Australia task force intercepted suspicious packages mailed to Australia on Jan. 17 that contained the heroin-laden shock observers. Police tracked the package back to Stephens.

Police seized about 3,740 grams of heroin, a kilo of marijuana and small amounts of ecstasy and cocaine as well as assets valued about approximately $350,000.

Thai official Niyom Termsrisuk told reporters at a Bangkok news conference Jan. 20 that authorities have already identified others in the criminal organization, all of whom are Canadians. He said they expect to make more arrests.

Stephens has several convictions from Vernon. He was sentenced to a year in jail in 2010 after pleading guilty to carrying a weapon, occupying a vehicle in which there was a firearm and possession for the purpose of trafficking. He also pleaded guilty that year to possession of a controlled substance and got another 30 days in jail.

Stephens is the brother of Derek James Stephens, also a gang associate currently awaiting trial on dozens of firearms charges.

Derek Stephens was charged in 2017 after a Vancouver police investigation called Project Tactic. His co-accused, Matthew Navas-Rivas, was shot to death last summer in East Vancouver.

Derek Stephens was sentenced in 2015 to four years in jail for his role in a Vancouver kidnapping orchestrated by associates and members of the Independent Soldiers gang. In 2012, he was sentenced to 11 months in jail for occupying a vehicle where there was a firearm. His co-accused in that 2010 case was Christopher Reddy, who was shot to death in 2011.

And in 2009, he was convicted in Vernon for possessing a firearm and was fined $650, plus given five-year firearms prohibition.

kbolan@postmedia.com

Blog:vancouversun.com/tag/real-scoop

twitter.com/kbolan

It has been eight years since UN gang boss Conor D’Monte was charged with murder and conspiracy for allegedly hunting rival members of the Red Scorpion gang.

Since then, a dozen members and associates of his violent criminal organization have been convicted of murder, conspiracy to commit murder and other charges.

But police are still hunting for D’Monte — the Vancouver man they believe was directing the violent rampage that resulted in dozens of shootings, injuries and deaths.

On Wednesday, a $100,000 reward was offered for the arrest of the fugitive gang leader.

“Conor D’Monte and his fellow gang members are responsible for an unprecedented level of brazen gang violence in the history of British Columbia. Police will not rest until we have brought all those responsible to justice,” Trent Rolfe, chief officer of the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit, said at a Surrey news conference.

Rolfe noted that D’Monte took over leadership of the UN gang when its founder, Clay Roueche, was jailed in Washington state in 2008.

“In that role, we believe Conor D’Monte was responsible for planning and ordering the murders of rival gang members,” he said.

Chief Superintendent Trent Rolfe, CFSEU Chief Officer, speaks to the media Wednesday, Jan. 30, 2019 in Surrey.

Roueche later pleaded guilty in Seattle to drug smuggling and money laundering and was handed a 30-year sentence.

D’Monte was charged in January 2011 with first-degree murder for the February 2009 slaying in Langley of Red Scorpion gangster Kevin LeClair. He is also charged with conspiracy to kill the Bacon brothers and other RS gangsters.

“Before investigators could arrest D’Monte, he fled Canada and has led investigators on an international manhunt,” Rolfe said.

He noted that UN gang hitman Cory Vallee was recently convicted of the LeClair murder and the conspiracy, and sentenced to two life terms with no chance of parole for 25 years.

Mugshot of Conor D’Monte, who is wanted for murder and currently a fugitive.

In an attempt to locate D’Monte, police in B.C. have partnered with the Bolo Program, which started in Ontario last year to do national publicity campaigns about the most-wanted criminals in Canada.

The reward is being put up by Crime Stoppers and Bolo, which is run by a non-profit foundation. Rolfe said police are hoping the reward will encourage someone with inside knowledge of D’Monte’s whereabouts to contact police or Crime Stoppers.

He said investigators are not looking for new witnesses as they have all the evidence they need for trial. They just want to find D’Monte.

Bolo program spokesman Maxime Langlois said the D’Monte campaign is the organization’s first in B.C.

“Over the next few weeks, millions of Canadians will come across the D’Monte most-wanted notice,” Langlois said.

Crime Stoppers executive director Linda Annis said the reward is the largest her group has ever offered.

Annis, who is also a Surrey city councillor, said she understands people who have information about D’Monte “might have some reservations about coming forward. They may fear for their safety” and not want their names passed to police.

“With Crime Stoppers, you can anonymously call us,” she said.

An undated photo of Kevin LeClair, who was gunned down Feb. 6, 2009, in Langley.

Rolfe said that even 10 years after the height of the gang war between the UN and the Red Scorpions, the UN “remains a presence in the Lower Mainland gang landscape.”

He said the public should never underestimate the value of the information they possess.

“The eyes of the police are few, The eyes of the public are many. We need those people who have info to tell us where Conor D’Monte is so we can return him to justice and return him to Canada,” Rolfe said

“It is also important that we let no criminal take solace in the passage of time.”

kbolan@postmedia.com

Blog: vancouversun.com/tag/real-scoop

twitter.com/kbolan

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Is there more to this story? We’d like to hear from you about this or any other stories you think we should know about. Email vantips@postmedia.com.</p

Conor D’Monte’s name has come out frequently in trials I have covered over the last several years. Most recently, details of his alleged role in the Kevin LeClair murder came out at the trial of convicted UN hitman Cory Vallee. But D’Monte has not has his day in court as he has remained a fugitive over the last eight years. Police are hoping a new reward will lead to D’Monte’s arrest wherever he is in the world.

Here’s my story:

It has been eight years since UN gang boss Conor D’Monte was charged with murder and conspiracy for allegedly hunting rival members of the Red Scorpion gang.

Since then, a dozen members and associates of his violent criminal organization have been convicted of murder, conspiracy to commit murder and other charges.

But police are still hunting for D’Monte — the Vancouver man they believe was directing the violent rampage that resulted in dozens of shootings, injuries and deaths.

On Wednesday, a $100,000 reward was offered for the arrest of the fugitive gang leader.

“Conor D’Monte and his fellow gang members are responsible for an unprecedented level of brazen gang violence in the history of British Columbia. Police will not rest until we have brought all those responsible to justice,” Trent Rolfe, chief officer of the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit, said at a Surrey news conference.

Rolfe noted that D’Monte took over leadership of the UN gang when its founder, Clay Roueche, was jailed in Washington state in 2008.

“In that role, we believe Conor D’Monte was responsible for planning and ordering the murders of rival gang members,” he said.

 

Roueche later pleaded guilty in Seattle to drug smuggling and money laundering and was handed a 30-year sentence.

D’Monte was charged in January 2011 with first-degree murder for the February 2009 slaying in Langley of Red Scorpion gangster Kevin LeClair. He is also charged with conspiracy to kill the Bacon brothers and other RS gangsters.

“Before investigators could arrest D’Monte, he fled Canada and has led investigators on an international manhunt,” Rolfe said.

He noted that UN gang hitman Cory Vallee was recently convicted of the LeClair murder and the conspiracy, and sentenced to two life terms with no chance of parole for 25 years.

Police in B.C. have partnered with the Bolo Program, which started in Ontario last year to do national publicity campaigns about the most-wanted criminals in Canada.

The reward is being put up by Crime Stoppers and Bolo, which is run by a non-profit foundation. Rolfe said police are hoping the reward will encourage someone with inside knowledge of D’Monte’s whereabouts to contact police or Crime Stoppers.

He said investigators are not looking for new witnesses as they have all the evidence they need for trial. They just want to find D’Monte.

Bolo program spokesman Maxime Langlois said the D’Monte campaign is the organization’s first in B.C.

“Over the next few weeks, millions of Canadians will come across the D’Monte most-wanted notice,” Langlois said.

Crime Stoppers executive director Linda Annis said the reward is the largest her group has ever offered.

Annis, who is also a Surrey city councillor, said she understands people who have information about D’Monte “might have some reservations about coming forward. They may fear for their safety” and not want their names passed to police.

“With Crime Stoppers, you can anonymously call us,” she said.

 

Rolfe said that even 10 years after the height of the gang war between the UN and the Red Scorpions, the UN “remains a presence in the Lower Mainland gang landscape.”

He said the public should never underestimate the value of the information they possess.

“The eyes of the police are few, The eyes of the public are many. We need those people who have info to tell us where Conor D’Monte is so we can return him to justice and return him to Canada,” Rolfe said.

“It is also important that we let no criminal take solace in the passage of time.”

kbolan@postmedia.com

Blog: vancouversun.com/tag/real-scoop

twitter.com/kbolan

The Supreme Court of Canada will not hear an appeal of murder convictions of three members of the notorious Greeks gang from Vernon.

The country’s highest court issued a statement Thursday dismissing the appeals of Peter Manolakos and his associates, Leslie Podolski and Sheldon Richard O’Donnell.

Manolakos, Podolski and O’Donnell are three of five men convicted by a jury in November 2012 of various counts in the murders of David Marnuik, Thomas Bryce and Ronald Thom in the Vernon area between July 2004 and May 2005.

Marnuik, who delivered drugs for the Greeks, was beaten to death with a baseball bat, a hammer and a blowtorch because he had taken off with some cash and a gang cellphone in the middle of a shift in the summer of 2004.

Bryce was a rival drug trafficker fighting the Greeks for turf when he was beaten with a wooden bat, then stomped at a popular beach near Vernon in November 2004. He died 17 days later in hospital.

Thom was shot to death on May 31, 2005, because Manolakos mistakenly believed Thom had provided police with information about the Greeks‘ criminal activity.

Manolakos was convicted of the first-degree murder of Thom and manslaughter in Marnuik’s death. O’Donnell was convicted of first-degree murder in the Thom slaying and second-degree murder in the deaths of Marnuik and Bryce. Podolski was found guilty of the first-degree murder of Marnuik.

All three are serving life sentences.

The Supreme Court decision came 10 months after the B.C. Court of Appeal dismissed all 16 grounds of appeal filed by the trio, including that the judge improperly allowed hearsay evidence to be admitted and didn’t provide adequate warnings about the credibility of some of the criminal witnesses who testified for the Crown.

The men were found to be part of a drug-trafficking gang operating in the North Okanagan called the Greeks, headed by Manolakos, who is of Greek heritage.

Manolakos provided gold rings and vests to his members, who also had tattoos of the word “ema” — which means blood in Greek — as well as the Greek letter omega.

Jurors at the trial also heard the Greeks had different ranks within the organization, including runners like Marnuik who worked the drug lines at the street level, bankers who would supply drugs to the runners and collect the profits, and enforcers who would mete out punishment to those who broke the gang‘s rules.

kbolan@postmedia.com

blog: vancouversun.com/tag/real-scoop

twitter.com/kbolan

It has been more than six years since three men linked to the Greeks gang in Vernon were convicted of murder. They continue to appeal those convictions, trying to get an audience before the Supreme Court of Canada.

Here’s my story: