Brothers lose appeal of extradition order in drug case
The B.C. Court of Appeal has rejected a bid by two B.C. brothers accused of drug smuggling in Washington state to halt their extradition to the U.S. Oscar Edgardo Mendoza and Rember Oswaldo...
View ArticleREAL SCOOP: Opium smuggler gets 3 years
I saw this interesting ruling on the B.C. Supreme Court website. It was just posted this week, though the sentencing hearing was just before Christmas. Hard to imagine anyone would agree to fly any...
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Hells Angels convictions should be part of forfeiture case, government says
The B.C. director of civil forfeiture wants criminal convictions against several Hells Angels admitted as evidence in an upcoming civil trial over the seizure of three biker clubhouses. Lawyer Brent...
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REAL SCOOP: Man gets 4 1/2 years in fatal shooting
A man who pleaded guilty to manslaughter for the fatal shooting of a gang associate in Maple Ridge in 2016 has been sentenced to four and a half years in jail. Deane Sahanovitch appeared in B.C....
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Killers who shot wrong man in 2009 targeted hit in Vancouver lose appeal
Two gangland killers who mistakenly shot the wrong person in 2009 have lost their appeal of their first-degree murder convictions. Kevin Jones and Colin Stewart were convicted by a jury two years ago...
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REAL SCOOP: HA civil forfeiture case just weeks away
The long-awaited trial between the B.C. director of civil forfeiture and three Hells Angels chapters finally gets underway next month – 11.5 years after the case began. This week, the parties are in...
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REAL SCOOP: Soomel killers lose appeal of murder convictions
Two assassins who tried to shoot gang leader Randy Naicker but ending up killing his halfway house roommate have lost appeals of their convictions. Kevin Jones and Colin Stewart were convicted in 2016...
View ArticleOwner of Vancouver encryption company trafficked drugs, aided cartel, U.S. says
The owner of a Vancouver company that sells encrypted BlackBerrys popular with B.C. gangsters is facing charges in the U.S. of racketeering, conspiracy and drug trafficking. Vincent Ramos, who started...
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REAL SCOOP: Vancouver company trafficked, aided Sinaloa cartel, U.S. says
I was tipped to this interesting story late Wednesday and spent a day and a half tracking it down before finding the U.S. charging documents early Friday morning. Vancouver encryption company, Phantom...
View ArticleREAL SCOOP: Fatal shooting in Surrey Friday night
Surrey RCMP says a man shot about 7 p.m. Friday has now died of his injuries. Local Mounties were called to a report of shots fired in the 6500-block of 137A Street and found the man suffering from...
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Vancouver man laundered 'tens of millions' of crime cash, U.S. alleges
A Vancouver businessman alleged to have sold encrypted BlackBerry’s to international drug-trafficking organizations laundered “tens of millions” of dollars of his illicit profits, U.S. law enforcement...
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REAL SCOOP: Ramos laundered tens of millions, U.S. alleges
Here’s a follow story on the one I broke yesterday about Vancouver-based Phantom Secure Communications, which is alleged to have been created solely to aid international drug trafficking organizations...
View ArticleB.C. drug smuggler caught after Phantom Secure phone seized
When undercover FBI agents seized an encrypted BlackBerry from Vancouver company Phantom Secure last June, they decided to message one of the contacts on the device. The mysterious figure — “a known...
View ArticleREAL SCOOP: Phantom phone seizure led to smuggler's arrest
When I was reading through the U.S. court documents about the arrest of Phantom Secure owner Vincent Ramos, I noticed a mention of an arrest of another Metro Vancouver man last June. That man, Saysana...
View ArticleVernon's Greeks gangsters lose appeal of murder convictions
Three members of the notorious Greeks gang from Vernon have lost their appeals of their November 2012 murder convictions. The B.C. Court of Appeal announced in a brief online statement that the appeals...
View ArticleB.C. encryption company CEO denied bail on U.S. racketeering charges
The founder of a Vancouver encryption company alleged to have supplied untraceable BlackBerry devices to criminals around the world has been denied bail in southern California. Vincent Ramos had argued...
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REAL SCOOP: Ramos denied bail in Phantom Secure conspiracy case
I wrote a few stories about Richmond’s Vincent Ramos before being off for three weeks helping an ailing relative. So I thought I would check on the status of his case on my first day back today. Ramos...
View ArticleSurrey fentanyl trafficker caught with 1,000 pills sentenced to two years
A young Surrey man has been sentenced to two years in jail after being caught with a stash of fentanyl-laced pills that a judge said amounted to “over 1,000 potential death sentences.” B.C. Supreme...
View ArticleREAL SCOOP: Fentanyl dealer gets 2 years in jail
A Surrey man with no prior record has been sentenced to two years for trafficking fentanyl. That is in the middle of the range that the B.C. Court of Appeal established last year for street-level...
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Police in Washington state reveal new details in 1987 murder of young...
EVERETT, Washington — For more than 30 years, the families of Tanya Van Cuylenborg and Jay Cook have waited for answers in their unsolved murders. The young Victoria-area couple was visiting Washington...
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