Because I’ve been spending a lot of time in court, I haven’t updated you on other important crime stories in the last few days.

The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team is looking for help to identify a man whose body was found  burned just before 10:00 am Monday in an outdoor shelter beside Lynn Creek near Keith Road.  

IHIT Cpl. Meghan Foster said investigators need the public’s help to identify whether the man was killed where he was found or dumped there.

“The victim has yet to be identified, and there remains many unanswered questions.  Once the identity is known, our priority will be to notify and support the family, and attempt to piece together the events leading up to this tragic death,” Foster said. 

She said the shelter is located in a densely-wooded area along the Bridgman North Trail.

“IHIT is asking anyone who was in the area of the shelter last weekend to contact police,” she said.

Investigators can be reached at the IHIT tip line at 1-877-551-4448 or by email at ihitinfo@rcmp-grc.gc.ca.

There was also a shooting in Surrey Tuesday evening in Surrey which left a man in hospital with injuries.

The shooting happened about 8 p.m. in the 12100-block of 68th Avenue, Surrey Mounties said in a news release.

The release said “the investigation is still in its early stages, but indications are that this is a targeted incident.”

Anyone with more information is asked to contact the Surrey RCMP at 604-599-0502.

Accused United Nations gang killer Cory Vallee raised his friendship with gang leader Clay Roueche in a secretly recorded conversation with an undercover cop, a Crown prosecutor said Wednesday.

Crown counsel David Jardine said the fact it was Vallee who introduced the topic of Roueche to his cop “cellmate” in August 2014 is proof the accused killer was speaking freely and was not manipulated by police. 

Vallee’s lawyer Tony Paisana is trying to get the recordings thrown out of evidence at Vallee’s trial for the 2009 murder of Red Scorpion Kevin LeClair.

Paisana earlier told B.C. Supreme Court Justice Janice Dillon that undercover police improperly elicited comments from Vallee in violation of his Charter rights.

But Jardine argued that Vallee is the one volunteering information about being involved in “gang shit,” being a friend of Roueche’s and hiding out in Mexico because of his charges.

“He talks about Clay Roueche being his buddy at least four times,” Jardine said.

The first reference to Roueche came after Vallee asked the undercover cop if he had seen the movie Captain Phillips, Jardine said.

Vallee said that the Somali pirate upon which the Tom Hanks film is based is in the same U.S. prison as “my friend.”

Jardine said the recordings contain important evidence about Vallee’s “relationship or knowledge of and association to Clay Roueche.”  

Clay Roueche in recent photo at Coleman Prison, Florida. Special to The Vancouver Sun

When one of the undercover cops asked Vallee where he is from, Vallee said: “Read the paper tomorrow man … I’ll be front page.”

“This opening exchange between Mr. Vallee and the undercover police is illustrative of his desire to talk about what an important and notorious criminal he is,” Jardine said.

Related

• More coverage of the UN Gang murder trial

 Jardine said Vallee also offered voluntary comments about “fleeing Canada to go to Mexico through the United States, his lifestyle, what he does to avoid detection in Mexico, his knowledge of the offences with which he is charged in Canada and his knowledge of his co-accused or rather his co-conspirators.”

Vallee knew he was being recorded after his arrest and continued to make incriminating comments during his conversation with the under police, Jardine said.  

Jamie Bacon (left) and Kevin LeClair in an undated photo.

“Mr. Vallee’s awareness of being recorded negates any possibility of statements from him being actively elicited because he made the conscious choice to speak knowing they were being recorded,” Jardine said.

“He is exercising his freedom to choose to speak knowing the police are hearing it.”

Vallee is alleged to have gunned down LeClair in the parking lot of a Langley strip mall on Feb. 6, 2009 at the height of a gang war between the United Nations gang and Red Scorpions. He is also charged with conspiring to kill the Bacon brothers and their Scorpion associates over several months in 2008 and 2009.

kbolan@postmedia.com

blog: vancouversun.com/tag/real-scoop

twitter.com/kbolan

Today it was the Crown’s turn to respond to a defence motion to exclude recordings of Cory Vallee’s conversations with two undercover cops back in August 2014.

Prosecutor David Jardine defended the police, saying they acted properly and were not trying to influence what Vallee revealed to them.

Here’s my story:

Accused UN killer brought up friendship with Clay Roueche, Crown says

Clay Roueche in recent photo at Coleman Prison, Florida. Must credit: Special to the Vancouver Sun. [PNG Merlin Archive]

Crown counsel David Jardine said the fact it was Vallee who introduced the topic of Roueche to his cop “cellmate” in August 2014 is proof the accused killer was speaking freely and was not manipulated by police. 

Vallee’s lawyer Tony Paisana is trying to get the recordings thrown out of evidence at Vallee’s trial for the 2009 murder of Red Scorpion Kevin LeClair.

Paisana earlier told B.C. Supreme Court Justice Janice Dillon that undercover police improperly elicited comments from Vallee in violation of his Charter rights.

But Jardine argued that Vallee is the one volunteering information about being involved in “gang shit,” being a friend of Roueche’s and hiding out in Mexico because of his charges.

“He talks about Clay Roueche being his buddy at least four times,” Jardine said.

The first reference to Roueche came after Vallee asked the undercover cop if he had seen the movie Captain Phillips, Jardine said.

Vallee said that the Somali pirate upon which the Tom Hanks film is based is in the same U.S. prison as “my friend.”

Jardine said the recordings contain important evidence about Vallee’s “relationship or knowledge of and association to Clay Roueche.”  

Roueche is an alleged co-conspirator in the same murder case as Vallee, but has not been charged because he is serving a 30-year U.S. sentence for conspiracy to distribute cocaine and money laundering.

When one of the undercover cops asked Vallee where he is from, Vallee said: “Read the paper tomorrow man … I’ll be front page.”

“This opening exchange between Mr. Vallee and the undercover police is illustrative of his desire to talk about what an important and notorious criminal he is,” Jardine said.

 Jardine said Vallee also offered voluntary comments about “fleeing Canada to go to Mexico through the United States, his lifestyle, what he does to avoid detection in Mexico, his knowledge of the offences with which he is charged in Canada and his knowledge of his co-accused or rather his co-conspirators.”

Vallee knew he was being recorded after his arrest and continued to make incriminating comments during his conversation with the under police, Jardine said.  

Jamie Bacon (left) and Kevin LeClair in an undated photo.

“He is exercising his freedom to choose to speak knowing the police are hearing it.”

Vallee is alleged to have gunned down LeClair in the parking lot of a Langley strip mall on Feb. 6, 2009 at the height of a gang war between the United Nations gang and Red Scorpions. He is also charged with conspiring to kill the Bacon brothers and their Scorpion associates over several months in 2008 and 2009.

kbolan@postmedia.com

blog: vancouversun.com/tag/real-scoop

twitter.com/kbolan

Emily Sheane’s father and boyfriend were worried when the 25-year-old was late getting home from work last March 9.

So they hopped in the car and retraced the route she would have taken from her job at Joe Fortes in Vancouver’s West End to her home in Burnaby.

What they came upon was devastating — emergency workers and Sheane’s smashed-up Corolla at the intersection of Moscrop Street and Willingdon Avenue, just five minutes from her home.

The young woman was dead, after a speeding Range Rover driven by long-time United Nations gang member Ibrahim Ali ran a red light and struck the driver’s side of her car.

Ali has pleaded guilty to dangerous driving causing death and failure to stop at an accident. His sentencing hearing started Thursday at Vancouver Provincial Court.

Crown Jonas Dow told Judge Harbans Dhillon that Ali should be sentenced to between four and four-and-a-half years in jail.

Emily Sheane, 25, was killed in a hit and run in Burnaby as she drove home from work on March 9, 2016. United Nations gang associate Ibrahim Ali pleaded guilty to the crime in October.

He described the horror of Sheane’s dad and long-time boyfriend Andrew arriving at the accident scene.

“As you can imagine, this discovery was devastating for this family and it is a level of devastation that is ongoing and persists until today,” Dow said.

Dow read from victim impact statements prepared by Sheane’s family and friends, who packed the gallery of Courtroom 307, hugging and weeping throughout the afternoon.

Sheane’s mom Judy said: “It’s every parent’s nightmare to have your daughter say she’s on her way home and she doesn’t show up.”

She said she was calling hospitals before they got the news that her 25-year-old daughter was gone.

“I am in shock and denial. I keep thinking it is just a bad nightmare and I’ll wake up and she’ll be there,” her statement said.

Friends of Emily Sheane console each other outside Vancouver Provincial Court on Thursday after the start of a sentencing hearing for Ibrahim Ali, convicted of killing Sheane in a fatal hit and run on March 9, 2016.

Sheane’s sister Jenny Berger said she has been overcome for months with “waves of emotion and pain, bringing with it crippling anxiety.”

Outside court, Berger said she feels let down by the sentence being proposed for Ali, who has a lengthy criminal history.

Ali’s lawyer Scott Wright told Dhillon that a three-year sentence would be more appropriate for Ali, whose life was “spiralling out of control” in the months before the fatal collision.

Neither Dow nor Wright mentioned Ali’s link to the notorious gang that was documented in an earlier trial.

Dow described the chaotic months leading up to the crash with Ali “embarking on a pattern of criminal behaviour” that led to numerous interactions with police.

He told Dhillon that the Range Rover Ali was driving had been purchased with a fraudulent cheque, as had two other vehicles.

Ibrahim Ali (above), who in October pleaded guilty in the March hit and run death of Emily Sheane. Ali is involved in a sentencing hearing in Vancouver Provincial Court.

Between 2007, when Ali was still a teen, and 2012 he had 20 convictions, Dow said, including for assault, uttering threats, obstructing a peace officer, trafficking, break and enter, possession of a firearm and robbery.

Ali’s conduct after the accident was an aggravating factor, Dow said.

Both Ali and his passenger Nicole Vrban ran off as passersby tried to help Sheane.

They called a taxi, then hid out at a Burnaby motel until they got another vehicle. They put stolen plates on it and headed east.

When the duo were arrested in Creston, Ali lied about who he was and concocted another story about why he was dirty and covered in blood.

Police found searches for flights to Ontario and Europe on his iPad, Dow said.

But he also accepted that Ali was remorseful for Sheane’s death.

Ali, 26, sat in the prisoner’s box, wiping his eyes, his head down throughout the submissions.

He lost his grandfather in January 2016, who “was the closest there was to a father figure in his life,” Wright said. 

“He just didn’t care anymore … He was in a bit of a spiral, to put it mildly, leading up to what brings us here today.”

The sentencing hearing was adjourned to Dec. 21.

kbolan@postmedia.com

Blog: vancouversun.com/tag/real-scoop

Twitter.com/kbolan

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Related

• UN gangster pleads guilty to fatal Burnaby hit and run

It was an incredibly emotional day for family and friends of Emily Sheane at Vancouver Provincial Court Thursday. She’s the young woman who was on her way home from work last March when UN gangster Ibrahim Ali slammed a Range Rover into the side of her car, killing her instantly. He and his companion fled the scene and were caught in Creston four days later.

He has now pleaded guilty and his sentencing hearing began Thursday.

Dozens of people close to Sheane attended court, some very upset when they were told the courtroom wasn’t big enough for everyone to get it.

Judge Harbans Dhillon learned that some were waiting outside, so worked to find a new courtroom to accommodate everyone. 

The hearing didn’t finish and will continue Dec. 21. I was surprised that the Crown didn’t mention Ali’s gang links as an aggravating factor.

Here’s my story:

Emily Sheane, 25, was killed in a hit and run in Burnaby as she drove home from work on March 9, 2016. United Nations gang associate Ibrahim Ali pleaded guilty to the crime in October.

‘Waves of emotion and pain’: Crown seeks four years-plus for UN gangster in fatal hit and run

Emily Sheane’s father and boyfriend were worried when the 25-year-old was late getting home from work last March 9.

So they hopped in the car and retraced the route she would have taken from her job at Joe Fortes in Vancouver’s West End to her home in Burnaby.

What they came upon was devastating — emergency workers and Sheane’s smashed-up Corolla at the intersection of Moscrop Street and Willingdon Avenue, just five minutes from her home.

The young woman was dead, after a speeding Range Rover driven by long-time United Nations gang member Ibrahim Ali ran a red light and struck the driver’s side of her car.

Ali has pleaded guilty to dangerous driving causing death and failure to stop at an accident. His sentencing hearing started Thursday at Vancouver Provincial Court.

Crown Jonas Dow told Judge Harbans Dhillon that Ali should be sentenced to between four and four-and-a-half years in jail.

He described the horror of Sheane’s dad and long-time boyfriend Andrew arriving at the accident scene.

“As you can imagine, this discovery was devastating for this family and it is a level of devastation that is ongoing and persists until today,” Dow said.

Dow read from victim impact statements prepared by Sheane’s family and friends, who packed the gallery of Courtroom 307, hugging and weeping throughout the afternoon.

Sheane’s mom Judy said: “It’s every parent’s nightmare to have your daughter say she’s on her way home and she doesn’t show up.”

She said she was calling hospitals before they got the news that her 25-year-old daughter was gone.

“I am in shock and denial. I keep thinking it is just a bad nightmare and I’ll wake up and she’ll be there,” her statement said.

Sheane’s sister Jenny Berger said she has been overcome for months with “waves of emotion and pain, bringing with it crippling anxiety.”

Outside court, Berger said she feels let down by the sentence being proposed for Ali, who has a lengthy criminal history.

Ali’s lawyer Scott Wright told Dhillon that a three-year sentence would be more appropriate for Ali, whose life was “spiralling out of control” in the months before the fatal collision.

Neither Dow nor Wright mentioned Ali’s link to the notorious gang that was documented in an earlier trial.

Dow described the chaotic months leading up to the crash with Ali “embarking on a pattern of criminal behaviour” that led to numerous interactions with police.

He told Dhillon that the Range Rover Ali was driving had been purchased with a fraudulent cheque, as had two other vehicles. 

Ibrahim Ali (above), who in October pleaded guilty in the March hit and run death of Emily Sheane. Ali is involved in a sentencing hearing in Vancouver Provincial Court.

Between 2007, when Ali was still a teen, and 2012 he had 20 convictions, Dow said, including for assault, uttering threats, obstructing a peace officer, trafficking, break and enter, possession of a firearm and robbery.

Ali’s conduct after the accident was an aggravating factor, Dow said.

Both Ali and his passenger Nicole Vrban ran off as passersby tried to help Sheane.

They called a taxi, then hid out at a Burnaby motel until they got another vehicle. They put stolen plates on it and headed east.

When the duo were arrested in Creston, Ali lied about who he was and concocted another story about why he was dirty and covered in blood.

Police found searches for flights to Ontario and Europe on his iPad, Dow said.

But he also accepted that Ali was remorseful for Sheane’s death.

Ali, 26, sat in the prisoner’s box, wiping his eyes, his head down throughout the submissions.

He lost his grandfather in January 2016, who “was the closest there was to a father figure in his life,” Wright said. 

“He just didn’t care anymore … He was in a bit of a spiral, to put it mildly, leading up to what brings us here today.”

The sentencing hearing was adjourned to Dec. 21.

kbolan@postmedia.com

Blog: vancouversun.com/tag/real-scoop

Twitter.com/kbolan

Two men are in hospital and two others are in police custody following a violent incident at an east Vancouver home on Friday morning.

The VPD emergency response team, negotiators, canine officers, and a number of uniformed police were called to a home near the corner of East Georgia Street and Boundary Round at 9 a.m. after receiving reports of reports of a fight, shots fired, and men armed with knives.

The entire 3600 block of East Georgia was blocked off for several hours by the VPD. Heavily-armed SWAT officers patrolled the alley behind the house and more than a dozen police cars and trucks were at the scene.

A patient is transferred from Burnaby Hospital to Royal Columbian Hospital after a violent incident at a home on East Georgian near Boundary Road.

A man working on a house across the street said when police arrived in the area just before 9 a.m., they told the construction team to stop working so their nail guns wouldn’t be confused with the real thing.

The man said he saw four people escorted out of the house where the incident occurred by police. He also said he hadn’t seen nor heard anything suspicious at the house in the days preceding the violence.

The newer home is just half a block from Hells Angels clubhouse of the biker gang’s East End chapter.

Police say the home and crime scene have now been turned over to detectives as the investigation continues to determine what occurred.

Police have not released details about the injuries suffered by the men who were in hospital.

MORE TO COME

A well-known Fraser Valley gangster is facing new charges after being arrested by gang cops this week for allegedly carrying a loaded gun.

Barinder (Shrek) Dhaliwal, a close associate of the Bacon brothers and the Red Scorpion gang, has been charged with one count of unauthorized possession of a firearm, one count of possession of a prohibited loaded firearm, one count of possession of a firearm with an altered serial number, and one count of possession contrary to an order.

Dhaliwal has been remanded into custody and is scheduled to appear in Abbotsford court on December 8.

On Nov. 29, officers with the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit, saw people in a vehicle that they believed to be connected to the on-going Townline Hill conflict in Abbotsford.

Those in he vehicle were “engaged in behavior consistent with drug trafficking,” CFSEU S.Sgt. Lindsey Houghton said Friday.

The vehicle was pulled over, but then tried to take off, before officers saw it again, Houghton said.

“A man was seen running from the vehicle as it again sped away. Uniformed gang enforcement team members quickly located and arrested him. A police dog was used to conduct an article search of the area and that is when a loaded 9mm handgun was discovered. The vehicle was not relocated,” Houghton said.

Police then got a warrant to search Dhaliwal’s residence in the 19800-block of 83 Avenue in Langley.

Houghton said officers found ammunition and a small pistol “suspected of being modified to shoot .22 caliber ammunition.”

He said the arrest shows the success of CFSEU’s integration with other policing agencies. 

Barinder (Shrek) Dhaliwal entering Langley funeral home where Jon Bacon visitation was held, August 2011

“Without a carefully coordinated plan, we would not be able to disrupt the criminal behavior of individuals who are engaged in the most violent acts and take them and their guns off the streets.”

Dozens of arrests have been made so far in connection with the Townline Hill – named for the area around Townline Road where two groups involved in the drug trade have been battling since 2014.

There have been more than 40 acts of violence linked to the conflict, including three fatal shootings.

Like Dhaliwal, some of those involved have links to the Red Scorpion gang, members of which have been convicted in the Surrey Six slayings of 2007.

Dhaliwal, 34, was a close friend of Jonathan, Jamie and Jarrod Bacon.

Postmedia News saw Dhaliwal outside a funeral service for Jonathan after he was gunned down in Kelowna in August 2011.

And months later, a witness at Jarrod Bacon’s cocaine conspiracy trial claimed Dhaliwal was the financier backer of a major cocaine importation scheme.

But he was never charged in the case. Jarrod Bacon was convicted and is serving a 14-year sentence.

In 2012, Abbotsford Police set up a surveillance camera outside Dhaliwal’s family home after two shootings on the street.

kbolan@postmedia.com

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twitter.com/kbolan

 A controversial rocker and Hells Angels associate convicted of stock fraud has died, three months after being shot in Burnaby, Postmedia News has learned.

Adis (Ady) Golic passed away Nov. 22 from injuries sustained in the targeted shooting.

The 41-year-old was gunned down on Aug. 22 around 8:30 p.m. in the 7700-block of 12^th Avenue in Burnaby.

At the time, Mounties said the shooter was a white man, dressed all in black, who hopped into a dark-coloured getaway vehicle with a roof rack.

“There was at least one other person, the driver, in the vehicle, which fled the area at a high rate of speed,” Sgt. Derek Thibodeau said in an August news release. “Police believe this was a targeted shooting and the motive is part of the investigation.

Witnesses said the victim was found in an alley beside a townhouse complex and was believed to be living in the area.

Cpl. Meghan Foster, of the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team, confirmed this week that the Golic case has been passed to IHIT and investigators are in the process of reviewing it.

Golic has crossed a number of people in his colourful past.

In 2011, he was convicted in Vancouver provincial court of running a boiler room operation and selling securities without being registered and without filing a prospectus.

He claimed to be selling shares in a company called AD Capital, which was developing new muffler technology that would reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 97 per cent. An expert testified at his trial that it was all bogus.

The prosecutor alleged Golic raised almost $600,000 illegally.

An elderly couple, both retired teachers in their 80s, testified that he pressured them in their own home to invest tens of thousands of dollars in the company.

Rocker and Hells Angels associate Adis (Ady) Golic died Nov. 22, 2016, from injuries sustained in a targeted shooting in August. These images are from a YouTube video produced for his band Skard. IHIT is now investigating.

The husband said that on one occasion, Golic actually walked him to the bank to get a draft.

Some of the money may have been used to produce the 2008 music video On the Highway, put out by Golic’s rock band Skard.

Featured in the video are two full-patch Hells Angels, including Golic’s friend and East End chapter president John Bryce.

Both are cruising down a rural road on their Harleys with a police car following behind them.

In 2012, Golic was sentenced to 60 days in jail and ordered to pay $40,000 in restitution to the couple.

In a similar case, he was charged with selling shares of another company, AC Energy Inc., without being registered and without filing a prospectus. He pleaded guilty in mid-trial and was fined $5,000.

In 2014, the B.C. Securities Commission imposed a seven-year ban on Golic buying or trading in securities or acting for any registered company as director, officer, promoter or consultant.

The commission noted that in addition to the two stock fraud cases, Golic had also been convicted of obstruction of justice and uttering threats after he threatened a witness.

Golic came to Canada from Bosnia as a 20-year-old in 1995 and settled in Burnaby. 

He started his band Skard in 2001.

Fans of the Skard and its frontman Golic were lamenting his death in tributes posted on Facebook, calling him a great musician and a kind man.

Fellow musician Brent Toews offered condolences to the family in a Nov. 23 post.

“I spent the better part of four years playing with Ady in the band Skard. We had many great times on and offstage, shooting video and recording in a few studios,” Toews wrote. “Your voice and guitar are silent now, but your music lives on as does your memory. R.I.P brother. See you on the other side.”

kbolan@postmedia.com

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twitter.com/kbolan

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Adis (Ady) Golic has been in the news several times over the last decade.

His Burnaby “boiler room operation” was raided by security regulators and the police in 2008, as reported on at the time by my retired colleague David Baines.

Investigators seized call sheets, scripts and business records from Golic’s phone room in the 6900-block of Royal Oak where they said he was illegally selling shares to a U.S. company. 

He was convicted twice for stock fraud. He was convicted of intimidating a witness in one of the cases against him. 

And he’s known as the lead singer of Skard and for his association with the Hells Angels, in particular East End chapter president John Bryce.

He was shot in Burnaby in August. And he has now died of his injuries (something I learned from Real Scoop readers.)

Here’s my story:

I was sent over to the police incident in East Vancouver this morning. The initial ScanBC report suggested someone might have been killed, though Vancouver Police later confirmed that two men were taken to hospital and two “persons of interest” were arrested.

We obviously wanted to see whether the situation had anything to do with the Hells Angels clubhouse at 3596 East Georgia. In fact, the house involved was on the other side of the street and about half a block east of the clubhouse.

There were a lot of officers there – Emergency Response Team, dog squad and patrol officers. I saw more than a dozen police cars and trucks.

VPD said they got called to the house just before 9 am “after receiving reports of a fight, shots fired and men with knives.”  

Police say two men have been arrested and two others were in hospital following a violent incident at a home on the east side of the city. [PNG Merlin Archive]

Vancouver Police have seized 56 kilograms of suspected cocaine after stopping two men who were acting suspiciously Monday night.

Sgt. Brian Montague said the two men – one in his 20s and one in his 30s – were driving an SUV in East Vancouver about 7:30 p.m. when they caught officers’ attention.

“Officers observed behaviour they considered suspicious and subsequently located what they believed to be approximately four kilograms of cocaine. The vehicle was towed and police obtained a warrant to continue searching for additional evidence.” Montague said in a news release.

Another 52 kilograms of the suspected drug were found Tuesday during a search of the vehicle, he said.

Both men have been released, pending further investigation and lab results on the substance found.

“Criminal charges related to the possession of drugs for the purpose of trafficking are expected to be recommended,” Montague said.

He said if the test is positive for cocaine, it would be worth  about $3 million with a street value of $4.5 million.

Violent drug cartels are expected to expand their reach in Canada now that a visa requirement for Mexicans has been lifted, according to government documents obtained by Postmedia News.

The Canada Border Services Agency report says “the visa lift will make travel to Canada easier in order to establish or strengthen existing cartel smuggling chains.”

“In the next three years, Mexican drug cartels are expected to expand their presence in Canada by sending operatives and recruiting local airport or marine port workers with ties to Mexico,” says the document, obtained from a source.

Postmedia only obtained a section of the document titled: Implications for the Canada Border Services Agency and Canada.

Postmedia earlier reported on the increasing presence of Mexican cartels in Canada, as well as the fact that gangsters and organized criminals were working at the Port of Vancouver.

As of Dec. 1, Mexicans are no longer required to obtain a visa to come to Canada. The previous visa program had existed for seven years.

The CBSA document said the cartels generally don’t use tourists to smuggle drugs for them.

“While Mexican drug cartels do employ drug mules, they prefer shipments with high profitability and high likelihood of successful delivery,” the documents says. “As a result, they are expected to continue to focus their large scale smuggling efforts on commercial cargo in the marine, air and land modes given the higher likelihood of successful delivery and much higher profit margins.”

Mexican cartels have taken over legitimate businesses in Mexico in industries such as the production of goods and oil and mining, the CBSA report says.

“The flexibility and openness of free trade has proven beneficial to Mexican cartels over time,” it says. “Increasing trade ties will create additional opportunities for Mexican drug cartels to smuggle inside legitimate shipments, particularly using legitimate avenues such as the planned international trucking corridors for easier transport of higher cargo volumes between Canada and Mexico.”

And the CBSA document expresses concern about the possibility of the cartels starting to smuggle fentanyl into Canada.

“While China is the main source of fentanyl to Canada, increased regulations may result in Mexican drug cartels stepping in to fill any potential fentanyl shortage in Canada,” it says. “Mexican drug cartels play a significant role in current international fentanyl trafficking, with Mexico serving as a transshipment point for fentanyl precursors.”

CBSA media officer Line Guibert-Wolff said in an emailed statement that “Canada is working closely with Mexican partners to put in place measures to protect Canada against the risks associated with irregular migration.”

“The Government of Canada will continue to monitor and address any safety and security risks. The Public Safety portfolio, along with Canadian law enforcement partners across the country and abroad, work collaboratively and proactively to protect Canada’s safety and security. Combating serious and organized criminal activity is a priority,” Guibert-Wolff said.

Conservative Public Safety critic Tony Clement said the federal government should have paid more attention to the security risks associated with lifting the visa requirement.

“This is a concern and it could lead to Canadian lives being lost if the cartels move in,” he said. “I think this is a matter of the highest security and I think the government should reverse itself.”

Staff for B.C. Public Safety Minister Mike Morris said he would not comment on the document “as this is a federal matter.”

B.C. NDP Public Safety Critic Mike Farnworth said the information is concerning, but not surprising.

“I think this is one of the things the government needs to be frank about with Canadians and British Columbians. It is one thing to say yay, we are going to get more tourists but the reality is that we are also going to see increased opportunities for the criminal element, particularly Mexican drug cartels,” Farnworth said.

And he said “the government has got to be increasingly vigilant when it comes to potential for organized crime to infiltrate our transportation modes whether it be marine, whether it be air, or whether they be land.”

RCMP Supt. Cal Chrustie, an expert on cartels, said he didn’t feel comfortable commenting on the impact of the regulatory change.

But he said Mexican cartels and other transnational organized crime networks “(don’t) respect laws, regulations or authorities in their illegal efforts regardless.”

“We know that transnational organized crime networks in Canada have criminal business relationships with Mexican cartels,” Chrustie said.

He said Canadian crime organizations purchase cocaine and other drugs from Mexican cartels.

“The Canadian organized crime networks also work with the Mexican cartels in laundering/repatriating money from drug deals between the groups. It is usually about illegal profits with the cartels,” Chrustie said. “We will continue to monitor all external threats from transnational organized crime networks, and the cartel activity is one we will monitor closely as we have always done.”

kbolan@postmedia.com

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I was leaked part of an interesting Canada Border Service Agency document that warned about the expansion of cartels in Canada due to the elimination of the visa for Mexicans on Dec. 1.

I had already heard this might be an issue and have requested other documents through the Access to Information Act. I am still awaiting documents.

Of course, the cartels already have their own point people here. And they work with Canadian criminal organizations as I have already documented.

Here’s my story :

He had survived a targeted shooting in Vancouver and being a member of the WolfPack alliance during a deadly gang war.

But Jeffrey Chang couldn’t survive his own vice.

The B.C. Coroners Service has finally confirmed what Postmedia reported in July 2015 — that Chang died of a drug overdose in a Pitt Meadows house.

The one-page coroners’ report released Friday said Chang’s immediate cause of death was “acute cocaine intoxication”.

And it said the July 2, 2015 death was “an unintentional illicit drug overdose”.

The report lists Miami, Florida as Chang’s city of residence.

In June 2014, Chang escaped serious injury after a targeted Vancouver shooting that left his girlfriend Mia Deakin seriously wounded.

After the shooting, Chang was splitting his time between B.C. and Ontario, police said at the time of his death.

“We would still consider him as being involved in the ongoing Lower Mainland gang conflict with close association to the Alkhalil group, members of the Independent Soldiers, WolfPack and many others,” Sgt. Lindsey Houghton said. “He’s been around and involved for many years.”

Chang was the younger brother of slain gangster Jonathan Chu-Ka Chang, who was 27 when he was sprayed with gunfire behind a Burnaby gym on Oct. 14, 2009. His murder remains unsolved.

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.

It only took the coroners’ service a year and five months to publicly confirm that Wolf Pack gangster Jeffrey Chang died of a drug overdose.

I reported at the time that the 28-year-old’s death on July 2, 2015 was a “suspected drug overdose.”

Then I submitted  my request to the coroner to get a copy of the report, which was finally released to me Friday.

It’s sparse, but I have written a short update:

Guns purchased by a Courtenay man sentenced last month on firearms charges have turned up in several criminal cases, including a shooting and two home invasions.

B.C. Supreme Court Justice Robin Baird handed Bryce McDonald a 40-month sentence Nov. 7 for storing restricted firearms in an unauthorized place and in a careless manner.

But McDonald was never charged with the fact that more than 30 restricted firearms he purchased went missing — something Baird said earlier was “probably sinister.”

Now more details about where some of the guns ended up have been released in the judge’s written reasons for sentencing.

An affidavit filed by the Crown at McDonald’s sentencing hearing said police found six of the missing guns while investigating other crimes, including a June 21, 2014 shooting at Brentwood Mall that injured a man.

“In July 2014, a suspect turned himself in claiming responsibility for this shooting.  He surrendered the gun that he had used. It was a 9mm Luger registered to Mr. McDonald,” Baird noted.

The Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit raided McDonald’s house and storage locker in December 2013 and found just 19 firearms, both restricted and unrestricted, even though records showed McDonald had purchased 49 restricted guns since getting his licence in 2009.

That led to a dozen charges against McDonald, a Hells Angels associate.

CFSEU Staff Sgt. Lindsey Houghton said Friday that the investigation into McDonald was closed, despite the fact that some of his missing guns have turned up in other criminal cases.

“That investigation into McDonald … concluded,” Houghton said. “But, like in any case, (there could be) a re-examination or new investigation should new information come to our attention.”

Other guns owned by McDonald were found:

• on June 16, 2014 when Mounties responded to a complaint of a home invasion in progress on Canada Way in Burnaby.  Police found a loaded Storm Ruger handgun registered to McDonald in the suspect’s vehicle.
•  on January 26, 2015, when a man was arrested in Vancouver for shoplifting.  Police found three Glock firearms concealed on him, two of which were registered to McDonald.
• on June 8, 2015, a man was arrested in Vancouver in a stolen vehicle. The suspect’s house was later searched and a Beretta handgun registered to McDonald was found.
• on February 25, 2016, the Calgary Police investigated a home invasion in which five masked persons armed with knives, a bat, and a gun entered a residence, tied up two people and assaulted them. Police later found the suspects and searched a vehicle they had stolen, finding a loaded .40‑calibre Glock handgun registered to McDonald, an over‑capacity magazine containing ammunition and a balaclava.

Photo credit: Combined Forces Special Enforcement 2013: Firearms seized by anti-gang police investigating Courtenay resident Bryce McDonald.

“I remind myself that Mr. McDonald was not charged with and has not been convicted of firearms trafficking.  The Crown makes no such allegation.  But the issue of the missing guns is surely an aggravating factor on the present convictions which focus upon Mr. McDonald’s flagrant misconduct as a licensed gun owner and the scope of his unlawful behaviour in managing his gun collection,” he said.

Baird said McDonald had lied when asked what happened to the missing guns.

“Mr. McDonald knows perfectly well where these guns have gone, but he has refused to tell the truth about it,” Baird said. “Instead, he has brazenly and repeatedly lied to me about this issue, and his dishonesty has persisted down to the present moment.”

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.

Last month, I reported the bare bones details of the 40-month sentence handed to Bryce McDonald, of Courtenay, who was convicted of several firearms charges.

This week I got a lot more details of the case when the written reasons of Justice Robin Baird were released. 

I was surprised to see that six of McDonald’s missing guns were found in the hands of other criminals being investigated for other crimes. Still McDonald has not faced any charges related to 30 missing guns.

Here’s my latest story:

Courtenay man’s missing guns used in shooting, home invasions

The federal government introduced new legislation Monday to try to stem the overdose crisis across the country. 

The bill would make it easier to set up safe consumption sites and also proposes to prohibit the unregistered import of pill presses. And it would give border agents the ability to search international packages/envelopes weighing less than 30 grams if they suspect the item may contain drugs.

The proposed pill press ban reminded me of a March 2007 story I wrote as part of a series on synthetic drugs, which noted how easy it is to get a pill press online.

Here’s that report:

Need a pill press? Call Shanghai

Vancouver Sun 
Sat Mar 17 2007 
Page: A7 
Section: News 
Byline: Kim Bolan 
Source: Vancouver Sun 

A Vancouver Sun reporter had offers of pill press delivery from different Shanghai companies within an hour of sending out e-mails requesting information about purchases.

Winni Kong, sales representative with the Shanghai Tianfeng Pharmaceutical Machinery Co., offered three different pill press prices, depending on the capacity, ranging from $737 to $1,047 US.

She asked no questions about the purpose for the purchase and said the product would be shipped within 30 days “after confirmation of order” and take another 20 days to reach Vancouver by ship.

“Some of them are merchandise on hand, so don’t need so much time,” Kong said.

“We haven’t got agents there, but we have some clients in America. We always are at your service and are looking forward to hearing from you soon.”

Frank Gao, of Shanghai’s Pharmao Industries Co, offered even faster service and a better price — $700 US per pill press.

Gao said to ship by sea would cost $55 US per unit, but “if shipped by DHL [courier], should take three to four days to Vancouver.”

“Many customers like [to] ship this machine by DHL,” he said.

The courier cost quoted is $1,250 US per pill press — almost twice the cost of the machine.

Gao even provided a bank account number to which cash had to be transferred in order to get the process going and he said not to worry about it being a scam.

“We can deliver the machine within 10 days after receipt the payment. We sold many sets of TDP machines to U.S., so please do not worry about our credit,” he said.

Again, Gao asked nothing about the reason for the purchase.

Shanghai is also the most listed online location of pharmaceutical companies offering to sell methylamine hydrochloride and sodium borohydride, though none responded to The Sun’s e-mail inquiries about ordering the chemicals.

Insp. Brian Cantera, who heads RCMP E Division’s drug squad, was not surprised by the ease with which The Sun accessed willing vendors in Asia, saying it is just as easy for organized crime groups to get the presses.

“These guys produce this stuff and of course they bring in pill presses,” Cantera said.

“When you get Asian organized crime and they are bringing in a precursor and they are bringing in a pill press and these are both legal substances.

“Now you are following two perfectly legal items for which there is no accountability for them to have to report or say ‘hey this is a legitimate business.’ ”

kbolan@png.canwest.com

HI KIM …

Vancouver Sun reporter Kim Bolan went online this week and found out just how easy it is to import a pill press from China. Here is an e-mail exchange between Bolan and a representative from Shanghai-based Pharmao Industries Co., one of several overseas companies advertising pill presses for sale on the Internet.

I am inquiring about the importation of single tablet pill presses into Canada?

Are these easy to ship? How much are they per unit?

I am based in Vancouver, Canada.

Kim Bolan

On March 12, 2007, at 8:39 p.m., Frank wrote:

Hi Kim

The price of TDP single punch tablet press is USD700/set FOB Shanghai

The freight cost by sea is USD55 But many customers like ship this machine by DHL, the cost is USD1250

Best regards

Frank Gao

Do you require a minimum order for shipment? I suppose with DHL, a shipment could be here within days? Do you have an agent in Vancouver or another Canadian city?

Thanks for your quick response,

Kim

– – –

On March 12, 2007, at 8:51 p.m., Frank wrote:

Hi Kim

No minimum order for shipment

If ship by DHL, should take 3-4 days to Vancouver

We have not agent in Canada

Best regards

Frank Gao

Thanks Frank.

What is the mechanism for placing an order? Do I need to send a money order? Or is a credit card number okay?

Kim

On March 12, 2007, at 9:03 p.m., Frank wrote:

Hi, Kim

You can transfer the money to below bank account:

Bank name: CHINA MERCHANTS BANK SHANGHAI BRANCH

Account: 6225 8802 1940 8011

Can you recommend a secure bank here that will do the transaction? I would prefer not to use my own bank.

Kim

On March 12, 2007, at 9:16 p.m., Frank wrote:

Dear Kim

We only have this bank account, I think you can do the transaction easily from your side

Best regards

Frank Gao

Maybe I will try HSBC, which is the old Hong Kong Bank of Canada. What guarantee to I have that I will get the product if I send the money?

Kim

Hi Kim

We can deliver the machine within 10 days after receipt the payment. We sold many sets of TDP machines to US, so please do not worry about our credit.

We will equip the motor with 110V/60Hz, please confirm whether it is suitable for you.

Two accused gang killers are arguing that a warrant used to search the BlackBerry of a United Nations gang member in 2012 was improperly obtained.

Cory Vallee, who’s charged in the 2009 murder of Red Scorpion rival Kevin LeClair, and Jason McBride, charged with the 2011 murder in Kelowna of LeClair’s close friend Jonathan Bacon, want the evidence from the BlackBerry ruled inadmissible.

B.C. Supreme Court Justice Janice Dillon, who’s presiding over Vallee’s trial, has ruled that the Kelowna judge in McBride’s case, Justice Allan Betton, should decide whether the warrant violated the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

“It is in the interests of justice that a joint hearing be conducted,” Dillon said in a ruling Tuesday.

Dillon said that having one judge rule on a matter at issue in two criminal cases is extremely unusual.

So she laid out some ground rules “because British Columbia has no rules of criminal procedure governing the appointment of a judge for a joint hearing.”

She said in both Vallee and McBride’s cases, “the charges against the applicants relate to the activities of the United Nations gang and its conflict with the Bacon brothers’ gang during the years 2008 to 2011.”

“On August 11, 2011, Amir Eghtesad was arrested at the Vancouver International Airport and charged with conspiracy to murder Jonathan Bacon and others. Investigators seized a BlackBerry phone from Mr. Eghtesad,” Dillon said.

Eleven months later, an RCMP officer swore an affidavit to get the warrant to search Eghtesad’s BlackBerry and SIM card.

“Investigators found encrypted emails on the Eghtesad BlackBerry that the Crown intends to use in the prosecution of Mr. Vallee and in the prosecution of Mr. McBride,” Dillon said. “The Crown asserts that Mr. Vallee and Mr. McBride are the authors of some of the encrypted emails.”

She said that because both accused plan to make the same arguments and are willing to use the same lawyer, it makes sense to have a single hearing.

“This is a common issue suitable for determination at a joint hearing,” Dillon said.

Vallee’s trial at the Vancouver Law Courts will resume in February, while the Kelowna trial of McBride and co-accused Michael Jones and Jujhar Khun-Khun is scheduled to start in May.

Eghtesad pleaded guilty in 2014 to conspiracy to kill the Bacons and was sentenced to seven years in jail minus time served.

kbolan@postmedia.com

blog: vancouversun.com/tag/real-scoop

twitter.com/kbolan

Read the full ruling here.

A ruling released Tuesday by B.C. Supreme Court Justice Janice Dillon shed a little light on evidence the Crown hopes to call both in the Cory Vallee murder trial, as well as the trial of Jason McBride, Jujhar Khun-Khun and Michael Jones in the 2011 Kelowna murder of Jon Bacon.

Both Vallee and McBride want the evidence obtained from a cell phone seized from Amir Eghtesad in 2011 ruled inadmissible at their trials.

There are no details in the ruling about what the encrypted messages say and they may not, in the end, ever come out at either trial.

Here’s my story:

Crown wants to use BlackBerry evidence in two drug war murder trials

Two accused gang killers are arguing that a warrant used to search the BlackBerry of a United Nations gang member in 2012 was improperly obtained.

Cory Vallee, who’s charged in the 2009 murder of Red Scorpion rival Kevin LeClair, and Jason McBride, charged with the 2011 murder in Kelowna of LeClair’s close friend Jonathan Bacon, want the evidence from the BlackBerry ruled inadmissible.

B.C. Supreme Court Justice Janice Dillon, who’s presiding over Vallee’s trial, has ruled that the Kelowna judge in McBride’s case, Justice Allan Betton, should decide whether the warrant violated the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

“It is in the interests of justice that a joint hearing be conducted,” Dillon said in a ruling Tuesday.

Dillon said that having one judge rule on a matter at issue in two criminal cases is extremely unusual.

So she laid out some ground rules “because British Columbia has no rules of criminal procedure governing the appointment of a judge for a joint hearing.”

She said in both Vallee and McBride’s cases, “the charges against the applicants relate to the activities of the United Nations gang and its conflict with the Bacon brothers’ gang during the years 2008 to 2011.”

“On August 11, 2011, Amir Eghtesad was arrested at the Vancouver International Airport and charged with conspiracy to murder Jonathan Bacon and others. Investigators seized a BlackBerry phone from Mr. Eghtesad,” Dillon said.

Eleven months later, an RCMP officer swore an affidavit to get the warrant to search Eghtesad’s BlackBerry and SIM card.

“Investigators found encrypted emails on the Eghtesad BlackBerry that the Crown intends to use in the prosecution of Mr. Vallee and in the prosecution of Mr. McBride,” Dillon said. “The Crown asserts that Mr. Vallee and Mr. McBride are the authors of some of the encrypted emails.”

She said that because both accused plan to make the same arguments and are willing to use the same lawyer, it makes sense to have a single hearing.

“This is a common issue suitable for determination at a joint hearing,” Dillon said.

Vallee’s trial at the Vancouver Law Courts will resume in February, while the Kelowna trial of McBride and co-accused Michael Jones and Jujhar Khun-Khun is scheduled to start in May.

Eghtesad pleaded guilty in 2014 to conspiracy to kill the Bacons and was sentenced to seven years in jail minus time served.

kbolan@postmedia.com

blog: vancouversun.com/tag/real-scoop

twitter.com/kbolan

Read the full ruling here.