In July 2012, Shminder Johal was sentenced to 18 years in jail for corrupting a local border guard and smuggling hundreds of kilograms of cocaine and three guns into B.C.

Just three years later, Johal has been released on day parole under a now-abolished law allowing accelerated parole for some first-time federal offenders.

The Parole Board of Canada ruled in July that Johal could be released into a halfway house because “there are no reasonable grounds to find that (he is) likely to commit a violent offence prior to warrant expiry.”

But a month earlier, another parole board panel denied Johal day parole, saying it believed the convicted Richmond man was “likely to commit an offence involving violence” before his full sentence was up.

The June ruling noted Johal’s role as the leader of the drug smuggling gang that paid Canada Border Services Agency guard Baljinder Kandola to look the other way when drug shipments came through his Pacific Highway border station.

“You have no other criminal record although police indicated that you have worked alongside of family members involved in a criminal enterprise and are suspected of other similar types of drug offences,” the June ruling stated. “One of these family members was killed in a targeted shooting in 2012 and another was a victim of arson in 2015.”

Johal’s younger brother Jagdip was gunned down in front of his family in Surrey in Sept. 2012. The murder remains unsolved.

Shminder Johal and Kandola were charged in Oct. 2007 after police intercepted 208 kilograms of cocaine and three firearms in a vehicle that had just crossed the border. And officers found $225,000 in Johal’s home that he claimed came from selling cars to gangsters.

The June parole decision also said that the Correctional Service of Canada had assessed Johal’s “risk for general reoffending to be high.”

“The board recognizes that the distribution of illicit drugs is inherently dangerous and clearly harmful to society as it involves the use of violence between competitors to control territory and settle disputes,” the ruling said. “The board finds it reasonable and logical to conclude that the nature of your offending involved the potential for violence and likely the use or sale of firearms.”

Much of the same background information was restated in the July decision granting day parole.

But the board concluded that Johal had no history of violence and met the criteria for release with some special conditions imposed, including not to associate with known criminals or gangsters and to report his financial information to his parole officer.

“You report distancing yourself from your relative who was deeply involved in criminal violence that ultimately led to his own death,” the July ruling said.

“You indicated there is no threat of any gang member coming after you for restitution as your superior in the criminal endeavour took responsibility for the loss of the shipment.”

The July ruling said Johal “accepted responsibility” for his crimes and now understands the harm drug trafficking inflicts on society.

“You have identified positive community supports and legitimate employment that does not involve you selling cars to potential gangsters,” it said.

Kandola, the former border guard who was sentenced to 15 years, was released last December on accelerated day parole after just 30 months in jail.

The board ruled he was a low to moderate risk to re-offend and had no history of violence. But it also said there was concern over “an incident where you tried to compromise a CSC official.”

The federal government eliminated the Accelerated Parole Review in 2011, meaning first-time non-violent prisoners could no longer get day parole after serving just one-sixth of their sentence.

But the government’s attempt to impose the change retroactively for those already charged or convicted was struck down by the Supreme Court of Canada last year.

A former Red Scorpion associate is suing the B.C. government after he was severely beaten for five hours by other inmates in Surrey Pre-trial jail in June.
Daniel Cunningham says in the suit that he suffered numerous broken bones and brain damage after the savage attack inside a cell on a pre-trial unit populated by Red Scorpion gangsters, including accused killer Jamie Bacon.
The suit says the guards must have known what was going on as Cunningham screamed for help and others on the unit egged on his unidentified attackers.
Cunningham is seeking damages for the injuries he suffered and for violations of his Charter rights.
The suit was filed in New Westminster Supreme Court Sept. 11, by Abbotsford lawyer Tonia Grace.
Cunningham was arrested for drug trafficking on April 11, 2015. The suit says he told officers at Surrey Pre-trial that he knew some Red Scorpions and could be placed with them on H-Unit.
But he was put elsewhere in the pre-trial jail.
Then in early June, jail staff told him he was going to be moved to H-Unit.
He said he expressed concern about a move because “he had committed himself to leaving the gang/drug lifestyle and he was no longer comfortable going to H-Unit,” the suit says.
Cunningham also told the assistant deputy warden “that if it became known he intended to leave the lifestyle, he would be at risk of violence from members or affiliates of the Red Scorpions.”
The suit says that Cunningham pleaded guilty to drug trafficking on June 11 and was sentenced to six months.
Because he still had an outstanding robbery charge, he was taken back to Surrey pre-trial and placed on H-Unit, the suit says.
He was forced to go to cell 401 that same night, where the assault is alleged to have occurred.
“The plaintiff, struggling to get free, screamed out repeatedly and slammed his hand against the closed cell door in an effort to alert” guards on the floor, the suit says.
“He was repeatedly punched, kicked and stomped on. The plaintiff had his head forced into the toilet several times in an attempt to drown him. He was forced to lick his own blood off the shoes of his attackers and clean his blood off the floor and walls using his clothes.”
Cunningham was “knocked unconscious at least three times” and played dead “in order to dissuade further attacks,” he said.
Other inmates were yelling `kill him,’ `tie him to a chair,’ `knock his teeth out,’ `knee drop from the bunk,’ `kick him in the face’ and `drown him in the toilet,’ according to the suit.
He was hidden under garbage and clothes when guards did their checks.
Finally, five hours after the assault began, his cellmate pulled the alarm and told the guards what was happening in 401, the suit says.
Cunningham, 35, was taken to hospital with a traumatic brain injury, a broken jaw, three broken ribs, a broken nose, broke and chipped teeth, a broken right hand, concussion and cuts and bruises.
He was later placed in a pre-trial infirmary before being put in solitary confinement.
The suit alleges that Surrey pretrial staff “were aware or ought to have been aware of the assault” and that their conduct was either unlawful, reckless or “willfully blind.”
An official with BC Corrections said Tuesday that the agency has not yet been served with Cunningham’s notice of claim.
“But when this occurs, we will review the claim and respond through the appropriate court process,” Cindy Rose said. “BC Corrections’ top priority is maintaining a safe and secure environment. We do not tolerate any incidents of violence and each and every incident is reviewed.”

Nine Canadians, including several Metro Vancouver men, are wanted for drug smuggling in India in a high-profile case linked to a former Punjabi cop and wrestling champion.

This week, Interpol issued red notices — similar to international warrants — for the Canadians, including Ranjit “Dara” Aujla, a Richmond man and the former president of the B.C. Kabaddi Federation.

Aujla told The Vancouver Sun Wednesday that he’ll go to India “to fight the case.”

He said he’s innocent of the allegations, which have been swirling as rumours and occasional news reports since the 2013 arrest in Punjab of Jagdish Bhola, the former cop and wrestler.

At the time, Indian police alleged Bhola was the kingpin of a billion-dollar network supplying heroin and methamphetamine to North America and Europe through Canadian contacts who smuggled drugs out of India.

Aujla said Wednesday that he has never met Bhola, though once saw him wrestle when he was on a Canadian tour.

Aujla said he thinks the charges against him are political since he has helped the Congress Party in his home village in Punjab — a state where Congress rival Akali Dal rules.

He only learned of the Interpol warrant when a reporter called him this week.

“I swear on my kids’ lives I am innocent. I have two beautiful kids. I never did anything wrong. I don’t know what’s happening,” Aujla said.

He said he was in Punjab when Bhola was arrested, yet was never questioned or taken into custody.

“I hired the lawyer to check if there’s any case against me in India,” he said. “And my lawyer said there’s nothing going on.”

He said he only knows one of the other eight Canadians implicated — a Surrey man named Lehmber Daleh, who used to be a kabaddi player.

Another Richmond resident listed on Interpol’s most wanted list is 60-year-old Parminder Singh Deo.

Deo told The Sun Wednesday that he’s innocent and doesn’t know Bhola, who reportedly implicated the Canadians.

Deo, who is retired, said he has hired a lawyer in Punjab to get more information about the case.

He said he hasn’t been in India in four years and doesn’t know Aujla or the other Canadians charged.

“I am very shocked from this news because in India, someone sitting in jail, he is telling all the stories,” Deo said.

“I don’t know what’s going on. I have also written to the head of police in Chandigarh because I want to know what the charges are. I was not in India. I was in Canada.”

He said his lawyer has a Sept. 28 court date to get more information.

The Interpol warrant is also surprising because Deo said he has provided Indian officials of his addresses in Canada and in India, as well as his contact number.

“I am not hiding or anything,” he said. “They have all my records.”

Deo said he has not been contacted by Canadian officials about any pending extradition hearing.

Canadian Justice department media officer Andrew Gowing wouldn’t comment on whether extradition requests have been made.

“Due to the confidential nature of state-to-state communications, the Government can neither confirm nor deny whether extradition requests have been received related to these individuals,” Gowing said.

No one at the Indian consulate in Vancouver returned calls Wednesday about the case.

Other Canadians wanted in the case are Daleh, 51, Sarabjit Singh Sandar, 51, Harbans Singh Sidhu, 57, Nirankar Singh Dhillon, 53, Gursewak Singh Dhillon, 44. Amarjit Singh, 59, and Pardip Singh, 38.

Sandar also lives in Metro Vancouver. Details of where the others reside was not published on the Interpol list.

When longshoreman Alvin Randhawa’s brother Alexie was arrested in California for possession of 107 kilograms of cocaine in 2008, Alvin wrote a glowing reference letter to the U.S. judge.

“My brother and I have been very close since we were very young,” Alvin Randhawa said of his older brother and fellow longshoreman. “He has always been there for me and to see him make such a life-altering mistake is absolutely devastating for me.”

Now Alvin Randhawa is behind bars, charged in New York State with six counts of smuggling and distributing both cocaine and marijuana.

He appeared in B.C. Supreme Court Tuesday and agreed to “committal” – the next step in the extradition process.

Department of Justice lawyer John Gibb-Carsley, representing the U.S. government, told Justice Brenda Brown that Randhawa had “consented to committal.”

Brown then asked Randhawa: “I am correct in my understanding that you are consenting to committal to be extradited to the United States sir?”

“Yes,” Randhawa replied, before being taken into custody as his family sat in the public gallery.

Canada’s new Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould will make the final decision on whether the 36-year-old dockworker will be shipped south for trial.

Randhawa was indicted by a New York grand jury and then arrested along with B.C. co-accused Patrick Bacon on May 7, 2014.

The U.S. indictment alleges Randhawa, Bacon and two Ontario co-accused were involved in smuggling marijuana across the border and into New York between 2007 and late 2010, as well as exporting cocaine from the U.S. into Canada from 2007 until May 11, 2011.

Throughout that period, Randhawa continued to work on the Vancouver waterfront as a member of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, local 500.

After he was released on bail in May 2014, he returned to his long time ILWU job.

Alexie Randhawa, now 37, served four years in a U.S. jail before returning to Canada and his job as a Vancouver longshoreman in November 2012.

After his arrest, Alexie claimed that his role in the California cocaine operation was an aberration – “a blip on the radar screen of his life which should not completely define who he is.”

While in a U.S. jail, he took on the Canadian government for refusing to allow him to return to Canada to serve his sentence.

And he won in 2011 when the Federal Court of Canada chastised Vic Toews, then public safety minister, for denying the prisoner transfer.

The government was ordered to pay Alexie Randhawa’s legal fees.

U.S. court documents noted that the drug conspiracy in which Alexie Randhawa became entangled was named after another B.C. longshoreman convicted of smuggling marijuana into Oregon state – Jason Cavezza.

An Oregon prosecutor said Cavezza and his co-accused ran “one of the largest, most sophisticated, and most financially significant drug-smuggling operations ever uncovered in Oregon law-enforcement history.”

Cavezza returned to B.C. earlier this year after serving seven years in jail for his role in the drug ring.

He maintained his membership in ILWU, local 514, which represents dock foremen, throughout his incarceration. Now he’s fighting to get his old job back.

Here’s my earlier post from my series Crime and the Waterfront:

Abbotsford Police say they have disrupted a major drug trafficking group involved in a violent conflict in the Fraser Valley City.

Three young men were arrested Thursday and now face a total of 16 charges.

Const. Paul Walker said the APD’s Gang and Drug Unit undertook the trafficking investigation about two months ago to target the people believed to be involved in the “Townline Hill” conflict.

Dozens of violence incidents have been linked to the conflict including the murder in September of 74-year-old Ping Shun Ao, an innocent bystander killed in drive-by shooting targeting his neighbour’s house.

“Over the past couple of months, a variety of resources were deployed into this large-scale investigation,” Walker said.

On Thursday, police executed two search warrants – one at a house in the 30600-block of Curlew Drive and another residence in the 3500-block of Summit Drive.

“As a result of this investigation, drugs – cocaine, heroin and MDMA – $6,000 cash, two vehicles and drug paraphernalia were seized by police,” Walker said.

The estimated value of the drugs seized is $70,000.

Charged are Abbotsford residents Herman Sidhu, 25, Bhavdeep Deol, 26 and David Elliott, 27.

Sidhu faces 13 counts for allegedly trafficking drugs on 11 different dates between Sept. 29 and Nov. 26.

Deol is charged with trafficking on Nov. 17 and 26, while Elliott is charged with trafficking on Nov. 26 only.

Sidhu and Deol are scheduled to be back in Abbotsford Provincial Court Nov. 30, while Elliott’s next court date is in January 2016.

Both Deol and Sidhu were convicted of assault causing bodily harm three years ago. Both got conditional sentence – Deol a year and Sidhu for nine months.

Deol was also convicted of assault causing bodily harm in 2009 and got a year’s probation. He was convicted last year of breaching probation conditions.

“These arrests represent a major disruption to the ongoing drug trade currently operating in the Townline Hill conflict,” Walker said. “We will be continuing our targeted enforcement efforts relating to this conflict to ensure that we clearly send a message that the gang and drug lifestyle is not welcome in the community of Abbotsford.”

The APD wants residents to report suspicious activity. They can call 604-859-5225 or text 222973 (abbypd.)

Anonymous callers can leave tips at 604-864-4777.

A B.C. judge has ordered the forfeiture of half the proceeds from a rural property linked to prolific pot grower Colin Hugh Martin.

Martin pleaded guilty last year to production of a controlled substance and possession for the purposes of trafficking.

He is also wanted in Washington State for his alleged role in a helicopter drug smuggling operation.

In July 2010, Mounties raided the acreage on which Martin and his family were living in Malawka, 20 kilometres northeast of Sicamous in the B.C. interior.

They found a sophisticated marijuana grow operation hidden in an underground bunker with hydraulic lifts and other equipment worth $190,000.

The pot in the bunker was valued in excess of $700,000 “and of course more than one crop could be grown each year,” B.C. Supreme Court Justice Alison Beames said in a ruling released this week.

The Crown sought forfeiture of some of the property, which consists of three separate lots registered in the names of different owners.

The owner of the lot where Martin’s home was located convinced Beames that he had nothing to do with the criminal activity on the adjacent property, but had rented the home to Martin’s common-law wife Jennifer Cahill for $1,200 a month for years.

The Crown argued the house should be forfeited as Martin used it to conduct his illicit business.

But Beames ruled there was “insufficient evidence” to support that.

“ I am not prepared to find that the use of a computer (or for that matter a telephone) or the storage of documents related to a marijuana grow operation on a parcel of land separate from the land actually being used for the grow operation is a sufficient basis for finding that the land where the computer and documents were situate was offence-related property,” she said.

She did, however, rule that the largest lot of more than 20 acres was directly connected to the criminal activity as it housed the outbuilding where the bunker was located, as well as a Quonset hut where pot plants were also found.

She rejected arguments from Dwight Genge, who bought the lot less than a month before the raid but continued to lease it to Martin.

Genge claimed “he was an innocent dupe who negotiated long and hard to acquire Lot 7, with the intention of future development,” Beames said.

But she said, “Genge concedes that he knew that the person who introduced him to Mr. Martin was alleged to be associated with gang activity.”

Genge also knew Martin was facing allegations that his helicopter had been “associated with drug trafficking,” Beames said.

“The inescapable conclusion to be drawn from the evidence in this case is that Mr. Genge knew, or at least ought to have had a strong suspicion, that Mr. Martin was making, or intended to make, illegal use of the property,” she said.

She ordered half of the $50,000 proceeds from the property forfeited to the Crown with the balance returned to Genge.

Meanwhile, one of Martin’s co-accused in the U.S. case made a first appearance in a Seattle courtroom recently after losing his extradition battle.

Sean Doak tried to get bail on the U.S. charges, but U.S. District Court Judge James Donahue ruled Nov. 24 that Doak should be detained pending trial.

“If defendant is released to Canada, and fails to return, the entire extradition process would have to begin again,” Donahue said. “If convicted, defendant will be facing a lengthy period of time in prison. There is no incentive for him to return to the United States if he is released.”

His trial is set for April 18, 2016.

Surrey RCMP is investigating a shooting in the 12700-block of 67B Avenue that left area schools on lock-down Monday.

Cpl. Scotty Schumann said officers responded to a call about possible shots being fired at a residence about 11:40 a.m. “Officers attended and located numerous shell casings near a residence in that area. No victims were located,” he said. “Officers are speaking to residents and possible witnesses in that area to gather further information.”

He said schools in the area were locked out for a brief period.

“The investigation is still in its early stages, however, it is still unknown whether this incident is related to the city’s ongoing conflicts between those involved in the drug trade. More information will be released if and when it becomes available,” Schumann said.

Anyone with further information who has not already spoken to police is asked to contact Surrey RCMP at 604-599-0502 or, if they wish to remain anonymous, Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or http://www.solvecrime.ca.

A B.C. man who fought his extradition to the U.S. for years has pleaded guilty to having a leadership role in a massive helicopter drug smuggling operation.
Sean William Doak, 41, appeared in a Seattle courtroom Monday to plead guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute cocaine and marijuana.
His sentencing hearing is scheduled for March 2016.
Over a two-week period in 2009, Doak made arrangements to smuggle shipments of cocaine and marijuana worth between $4 million and $5 million Canadian, his plea agreement says.
“He received and transmitted messages among members of the conspiracy, and unwitting with an undercover agent, via Blackberry devices and that he used the monikers Physician and Callisto,” the court documents says. “During the messages, Doak confirmed anticipated exchanges of cocaine and marijuana, estimated the value of the seized drugs at four to five million dollars Canadian, and urged the co-conspirators to work together “as a team” when faced with law enforcement detection and seizures.”
And there were a lot of seizures.
Between March 2008 and March 2009, U.S. agents seized 240,000 ecstasy pills, 175 kgs of cocaine and 358 kgs of marijuana from the B.C.-based drug gang.
The seizures took place in Washington, Idaho, Utah and California, as well as in Nelson, B.C.
Doak took his case all the way to the Supreme Court of Canada, hoping to overturn B.C. court decisions ordering his extradition.
But in October, the country’s highest court refused to grant leave to appeal and Doak was surrendered to U.S. officials.
Doak, along with B.C. men Colin Hugh Martin, James Gregory Cameron and Adam Christian Serrano, was charged in December 2009 for his role in the smuggling operation allegedly headed by Martin.
U.S. court documents say the group smuggled hundreds of kilograms of marijuana and cocaine using at least two helicopters to transport their illicit product.

The pilot of one of those helicopters, Sam Brown, hanged himself in a Spokane jail after being arrested in February 2009 in the midst of a cross-border run.

A second B.C. pilot Jeremy Snow was also caught flying drugs into Idaho from B.C. in March 2009. After serving a 46-month sentence, he returned to B.C. where he was shot to death in February 2013.
The court documents allege Martin sent helicopters he leased for his company, Gorge Timber, full of pot and ecstasy to remote landing sites in Washington and Idaho. The gang is alleged to have brought back to B.C. as much as 300 kilograms of cocaine a week.
Doak was sentenced in B.C. Supreme Court in May 2007 to seven years in jail for leading “a massive conspiracy to transport tons of marijuana from British Columbia into the United States” over at least an 18-month period.
He served only 14 months before getting parole.
And within a year he was back involved in the cross-border drug business.
Martin and Cameron also continue to fight their extradition.
Serrano pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in June 2013 to one count of conspiracy with intent to distribute controlled substances and was sentenced to three years in prison.

Six more men believed to be involved in the Surrey gang conflict are facing charges after a violent attack earlier this month.

Surrey RCMP said they were notified Dec. 5 that a man was being assaulted, threatened and held against his will near 86th Avenue and 130th Street.

“When police arrived several people were arrested in relation to this event,” Cpl. Scotty Schumann said.

Surrey residents Davjit Randhawa, 31, Sukhdeep Dhaliwal, 19, Chaten Dhindsa, 20 and Gurpreet Dhudwal, 18, have been charged with forcible confinement, robbery, assault with a weapon and assault causing bodily harm.

A fifth suspect Ravinder Samra, 28, was arrested Dec. 11 and is facing charges of forcible confinement, robbery, assault with a weapon and possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose.

All five have been released on bail on strict conditions, including house arrest, no contact with each other, no cell phone and they must be in the company of their parents while outside their homes for any purpose.

Police continue to hunt for a sixth suspect, Karnjit Randhawa, 27, who is also charged with forcible confinement, assault and robbery.

Schumann said the victim is well known to police and continues to recover from his injuries.

Surrey RCMP Chief Supt. Bill Fordy said police are continuing to target those behind a series of shootings over the last year. All are believed to be involved in the low-level drug trade.

“We believe that arresting these individuals and advancing prosecutions against them will create a safer community,” Fordy said. “We will continue to aggressively advance a broad base of strategies on those that we believe are associated with the violent acts that have played out on our streets.”

Schumann said that both Surrey RCMP and the anti-gang Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit have made “significant headway in disrupting the low level drug trade and resulting violence over the past few months.

“As of November 29th, over 6,200 persons have been checked, almost 800 arrests and detentions made and more than 160 weapons and firearms have been seized,” he said.

Meanwhile Mounties have offered a $5,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of Shakiel Basra, 21, who’s wanted in connection with an attempted murder in Surrey in September and a kidnapping in Vancouver in October.

Anyone with information about the conflict is asked to contact the Surrey RCMP’s dedicated tip line at 604-915-6566.

Yonatan (JK) Kassa had gang links and convictions for drug trafficking and a violent home invasion when he was shot to death Jan. 22.

But friends who have raised over $9,000 for his family online are portraying Kassa, 30, as “an amazing man” with a “beautiful smile and caring personality.”

The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team never released Kassa’s name publicly.

“The family requested it not be [released] and the investigators have not indicated they need to release it in order to further the investigation,” IHIT’s Sgt. Stephanie Ashton said.

She said that investigators generally don’t ask a family’s permission before releasing the name of a murder victim.

But if relatives make a request and there is no investigative reason for releasing a name, IHIT accommodates the family, Ashton said Friday.

She said she was unaware of the online crowdfunding page, which states it was “created to facilitate donations to the Kassas for JK’s funeral and other expenses that the family will incur as they work to put their lives back together.”

The page doesn’t mention that Kassa was gunned down in the 2100-block of Rindall Avenue in Port Coquitlam shortly after 9 p.m. Jan. 22, just that his “life was suddenly taken in a tragic incident.”

Ashton said at the time that the murder was targeted and “related to criminal activity.”

Kassa’s friends paint a different picture: “JK’s never ending love for his family and friends was truly remarkable. He always thought about others before himself.”

Kassa’s run-ins with police date back a decade, according to online court records.

He was convicted of drug trafficking in Surrey in 2006, then in Vancouver in 2008.

Kassa and two others were caught trying to rob a Maple Ridge marijuana grow-operation in July 2010. He was convicted and got a one-year conditional sentence.

He breached that sentence when in August 2011 he and a gangster named Cody Sleigh forced their way into a North Delta house, waving guns and terrifying the people inside.

The tenants snuck out the back, hopped a fence and called for help.

Kassa and Sleigh ransacked the home, taking two safes containing thousands of dollars. They fled in a van.

Little did they know that gang cops had been following them that night. The pair were arrested a short time later.

Police found a “home invasion kit” inside the van — balaclavas, bear spray, changes of clothing, licence plates, tools, a gun and an imitation firearm.

Kassa pleaded guilty in March 2014 to breaking into the house, using an imitation firearm, and theft over $5,000. He got a five-year sentence. Sleigh was later arrested and convicted in a kidnapping plotted by members of the Independent Soldiers gang.

When Kassa was sentenced two years ago, B.C. Supreme Court Justice Robert Crawford laid out his history — he came to Canada from the Sudan as an infant with his family. He grew up on the Lower Mainland.

“He was involved in drug use and drug distribution,” Crawford said. “He and his friend and a roommate were shot at. His friend died as a result.”

A pilot who claimed he smuggled drugs into the U.S. to help the tiny town of Bralorne has been sentenced to four and a half years.

And Bruce Simon will also have to forfeit the helicopter he used to fly the drugs into Washington state last summer.

Simon, 51, who pleaded guilty in November to smuggling ecstasy and pot into the U.S., appeared in a Seattle courtroom Friday afternoon.

His lawyer asked for a four-year sentence, while the U.S. Attorney argued that a term of five years and three months would be more appropriate.

Simon apologized for his actions in a Feb. 9 letter to the U.S. District Court Judge Richard Jones.

“I take full responsibility for my actions and have no one to blame but myself. I am not making excuses – what I did is inexcusable,” Simon said.

“But l want you to know that the reason I did this was not for personal gain, but to try to salvage my business which the small community in which I live is so dependent on. I own a small pub and the only hotel in town. These are basically the only business still operating in Bralorne, with the exception of a sometimes active gold mine.”

Bralorne is in a remote area west of Lillooet.

He said he “felt enormous pressure to have my business succeed because so many residents depend on it for employment.”

The pub closed Sept. 1 after Simon was arrested.

Simon admitted that on July 30, 2015, he “piloted a helicopter carrying controlled substances to a landing site near Baker Lake.”

“After landing, Simon was observed removing four large duffel bags from the helicopter and transporting the bags to a waiting motor vehicle,” his signed plea agreement says. The bags contained 9.9 kilograms of marijuana, 10.55 kilograms of ecstasy, and 35.33 kilograms of MDA — a club drug similar to ecstasy.

“Simon had knowingly acquired the controlled substances in Canada on or before July 30, 2015 and knowingly brought them into the U.S.”

Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicholas Manheim said Simon smuggled a large quantity of drugs simply for profit, using his specialized pilot skills.

“He did not have a drug problem and did not agree to transport drugs out of fear. Rather he had a number of small businesses that were struggling, and he wanted to make more money. The sentence must make it clear to those similarly motivated that the punishment for smuggling drugs far outweighs the profit. The recommended sentence sends that message,” Manheim said in his sentencing memo.

Simon said in his letter that because of his pilot’s licence, he had been approached before by people wanting to smuggle drugs. “I have always before vehemently turned away these offers,” he wrote.

Simon also said that during his seven months in jail, he has met “good people who have made horrible mistakes.”

“The one constant they have in common is the role drugs played in their lives,” he wrote.

An Abbotsford man is facing trafficking charges in Alberta after police seized five kilograms of cocaine from the secret compartment of a vehicle he was driving.

The Alberta agency ALERT arrested Rajwinder Singh Gandham, 27, last weekend after he arrived in Edmonton in a Jeep SUV.

“Gandham’s SUV was equipped with a hydraulic hidden compartment, which contained five kilograms of cocaine. The street value of the cocaine seized is estimated at $500,000,” ALERT spokesman Mike Tucker said in a release.

He said ALERT began its investigation in November 2015 after receiving information about drug trafficking.

“ALERT’s investigation resulted in the identification of interprovincial drug trafficking and partnered with Vancouver Police Department and Abbotsford Police Department,” he said.

“Gandham is believed to be affiliated with an organized crime group in the Abbotsford area. Gandham is charged with possession for the purpose of trafficking. The vehicle was seized and will be submitted for civil forfeiture.”

He has no criminal convictions in B.C., according to the online court data base.

A man charged after Delta Police raided a major fentanyl lab last week has a previous history for smuggling drugs into the United States, The Vancouver Sun has learned.

Scott Theordor Pipping, who is now facing 14 charges in B.C., pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute ecstasy pills, marijuana and hashish in Virginia in April 2007.

He was initially sentenced to 70 months in a U.S. jail, but in 2008, his term was reduced to 18 months. Details of his plea deal remain under seal, as does the application to reduce his sentence.

One of Pipping’s co-accused in the Virginia case was Adam Naname (Nam) Kataoka – a United Nations gang associate who was later shot to death in Argentina. Kataoka was found in a Buenos Aires parking lot in October 2009 lying face down, wearing latex gloves, with bullet wounds in his head, stomach and leg.

Kataoka was convicted in B.C. in the 1990 kidnapping Jim Pattison’s daughter and served a three-year sentence.

The U.S. indictment said both Kataoka and Pipping received regular advance payments for ecstasy pills through the first few months of 2002. Then in April that year, Kataoka passed hash, pot and pills to Pipping to transport from Vancouver to Toronto and then into the U.S.

More than 30,ooo ephedrine pills, 3,000 ecstasy and methamphetamine pills, 6.2 kilograms of hashish and 500 grams of marijuana was loaded into the side panels of a rented Dodge Grand Caravan in the parking lot of a Toronto hotel, before being driven to Buffalo, N.Y., and on to Virginia.

Pipping was arrested on the U.S. charges in Las Vegas in January 2007, then sent to Virginia a month later.

After he returned to Canada, he continued to be involved in the drug trade, according to police.

Property records show that Pipping is the co-owner of a Kelowna property in a lakeside community that was assessed last year at $283,000. And he got a 2006 Lexus in 2014, personal property records show.

Pipping appeared in Surrey Provincial Court Monday on eight trafficking charges, one charge of production of a controlled substance and four firearms counts.

He was remanded in custody, along with his co-accused Adam Summers, until their next appearance March 24.

Acting Sgt. Sarah Swallow provided details of the  Delta Police investigation which culminated in the arrests of Pipping and Summers and the execution of three search warrants in Burnaby, Surrey and Richmond.

“During a search of the Burnaby location officers discovered a large clandestine lab used to produce what appears to be the drug fentanyl. This lab is believe to be one of the largest fentanyl labs seen to date in B.C. in terms of drug production,” Swallow said.

She said dismantling the large lab, which was inside a unit of a townhouse complex in the 6800-block of Prenter Street “puts a huge dent in the production of this deadly drug.”

Across Canada last year, there were 471 direct fentanyl-related deaths  and another 132 deaths in the first two months of 2016, Swallow said.

Delta Police Chief Neil Dubord said that “without question, this seizure will save lives.”

“This drug is impacting the lives of everyday people, including those who may use drugs recreationally without understanding its consequences,” he said.

A convicted drug smuggler will remain on bail pending his appeal despite having been charged with three new offences in recent months, the B.C. Court of Appeal has decided.

Christopher Lloyd Mehan, 44, was convicted last August of conspiracy to import cocaine and handed a 10-year-sentence.

But he was allowed out on bail after filing an appeal of his conviction and sentence.

The federal prosecutor applied to get Mehan’s bail revoked after learning he had been charged the same day as his sentencing with assault causing bodily harm and uttering threats.

While on bail, he was also charged with refusing to provide a breath sample.

The prosecutor argued Mehan’s detention was necessary to protect the public.

But Appeal Court Justice Ian Donald ruled that Mehan could remain out until his appeal in the drug case is heard.

He said in his written reasons released Monday that the convicted smuggler is presumed innocent on the new charges and has a “Charter entitlement to reasonable bail.”

Donald noted that none of the charges is drug-related like the conspiracy case in which Mehan was convicted.

He said the alleged assault on Aug. 24, 2015 was described by Mehan’s lawyer as a dispute with a tenant that resulted in “a bloody nose and harsh words.”

Donald said the circumstances of the assault presented to him “are scanty.”

“It is difficult to say that a physical confrontation with a tenant indicates that the appellant constitutes a danger to the public,” he said. “The appellant has no record of violent offences in his background.”

Donald said that a new charge “should not automatically result in revocation or denial” of bail.

“It should be considered contextually and on a practical sense of public safety,” he said.

Mehan, a chef in Whistler, was convicted in April 2015 for his role in an international drug smuggling organization.

He and associate Jeremy Stark were snared in an investigation by the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit that started after the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration began to investigate the drug gang and documented it’s Canadian connections.

Police seized more than 200 kilograms of cocaine.

Mehan, Stark and others were charged in 2012.

Khamla Wong, an alleged kingpin in the drug gang, was arrested last week in Thailand, where he is facing drug trafficking charges.

He was wanted on an Interpol warrant on the Canadian smuggling charges.

Wong was living in Abbotsford before he disappeared. At one time he owned a restaurant frequented by UN gang members in the Fraser Valley city.

read the ruling here:

A convicted drug smuggler will remain on bail pending his appeal, even though he was charged with three new offences in recent months, the B.C. Court of Appeal has decided.

Christopher Lloyd Mehan, 44, was convicted last August of conspiracy to import cocaine and handed a 10-year-sentence.

He was allowed out on bail after filing an appeal of his conviction and sentence.

The federal prosecutor applied to get Mehan’s bail revoked after learning he had been charged the same day as his sentencing for assault causing bodily harm and uttering threats.

While on bail, he was also charged with refusing to provide a breath sample.

The prosecutor argued Mehan’s detention was necessary to protect the public.

But Appeal Court Justice Ian Donald ruled Mehan could remain out until his appeal in the drug case is heard.

He said in his written reasons released Monday that the convicted smuggler is presumed innocent on the new charges and has a “Charter entitlement to reasonable bail.”

Donald noted that none of the charges is drug-related like the conspiracy case in which Mehan was convicted.

He said the alleged assault on Aug. 24, 2015 was described by Mehan’s lawyer as a dispute with a tenant that resulted in a “bloody nose and harsh words.”

Donald said the circumstances of the assault presented to him “are scanty.”

“It is difficult to say that a physical confrontation with a tenant indicates that the appellant constitutes a danger to the public,” he said. “The appellant has no record of violent offences in his background.”

Donald said that a new charge “should not automatically result in revocation or denial” of bail.

“It should be considered contextually and on a practical sense of public safety,” he said.

Mehan, a chef in Whistler, was convicted in April 2015 for his role in an international drug smuggling organization.

He and associate Jeremy Stark were snared in an investigation by the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit that started after the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration began to investigate the drug gang and documented its Canadian connections.

Police seized more than 200 kilograms of cocaine.

Mehan, Stark and others were charged in 2012.

Khamla Wong, an alleged kingpin in the drug gang, was arrested last week in Thailand, where he is facing drug trafficking charges.

He was wanted on an Interpol warrant on the Canadian smuggling charges.

Wong was living in Abbotsford before he disappeared. At one time he owned a restaurant frequented by UN gang members in the Fraser Valley city.

kbolan@postmedia.com

blog: vancouversun.com/therealscoop

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read the ruling here