Metro Vancouver man with gang ties slain amid hail of bullets in Mexico
A West Vancouver man associated with the Hells Angels has been shot to death in Mexico, Postmedia News has learned.
Guiseppe Bugge, 42, died in a hail of bullets Thursday night at a posh shopping centre in an exclusive neighbourhood of Guadalajara, Mexico.
Local news reports said three vehicles pulled up about 9:30 p.m. and between eight and 10 men jumped out and fired at Bugge, who has a long history of fraud in B.C.
More than 140 bullets were fired at him, killing him instantly and injuring one of his Mexican-American associates and two bystanders.
Jalisco prosecutor Raúl Sánchez Jiménez said at a news conference that the state government had asked the Canadian and American consulates for information about Bugge and the injured man.
Sgt. Brenda Winpenny of the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit said Bugge is known to police in this province.
“He is associated with the Hells Angels and involved in drug trafficking,” Winpenny said.
Global Affairs Canada said in a statement that the federal government is providing “consular services” to the victim’s family.
“We offer our deepest condolences to the family and friends of the Canadian citizen who has been murdered in Mexico,” Brittany Fletcher said in an email.
The Canadian government has issued advisories warning people not to travel to several northern and western states in Mexico “due to the high levels of violence and organized crime.”
But the state of Jalisco, where the city of Guadalajara is located, is not under an advisory.
Bugge had been living in a West Vancouver house with a 2018 assessed value of more than $5 million.
In March 2018, he incorporated a company called G.S. Crypto Currency Ltd. with the B.C. corporate registry.
He was listed as the sole director.
In July, Bugge and his new company sued the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce after it froze his corporate account to do an investigation of a transaction.
The court documents say Bugge was notified that his account was under investigation on June 4, 2018 over a US$134,408 cheque he took from a customer to buy Bitcoin.
He filed his suit days later, saying in it that “Bugge was not prepared to tolerate an indefinite block of the accounts.”
He won a default court order to release the funds on July 5 because CIBC filed no response, Bugge’s court documents state.
Bugge also has a second company called GSSK Rare Coins and Paper Money, which he started in 2013.
And he has operated a number of moving companies over the years that were the subject of many customer complaints and at least one criminal investigation.
In April, 2005, a truck belonging to Bugge’s Student Pro Movers was seized by U.S. authorities at the Blaine border crossing, where agents found 285 kilograms of marijuana stuffed inside.
The driver of the truck was arrested, charged and later pleaded guilty to smuggling.
In June 2005, Bugge was kidnapped in what police described as a drug tradelinked extortion.
He later showed up at a stranger’s door assaulted, handcuffed in plastic straps and suffering from cuts.
Three men later pleaded guilty to unlawful confinement, but other charges against them were dropped.
Also in 2005, Bugge was cited by the B.C. Financial Institution Commission for selling insurance to customers of his moving business without authorization and ordered to discontinue the practice.