Search of truck found cocaine, Hells Angels `propaganda': Lawsuit
A man arrested last October north of Kamloops had more than five kilograms of cocaine, three firearms and Hells Angels “support propaganda” in his truck, a lawsuit filed by the B.C. government alleges.
The statement of claim naming Nicolas Kostadinos Karvelis says a 2017 Dodge Ram truck he was driving at the time should be forfeited to the government as an instrument of illegal activity.
Karvelis was driving on Highway 5 in McLure when he was pulled over by the Southeast District RCMP “conducting a road check for impaired drivers and vehicle fitness” on Oct. 17, said the lawsuit filed by the B.C. director of civil forfeiture.
“The RCMP stopped the vehicle as it entered the road check and observed illicit tobacco products in plain view inside the vehicle,” the suit alleges.
Karvelis was then arrested “for possession of unstamped tobacco in contravention of the Excise Act.”
During the search, police found his passport, “a black duffel bag which contained multiple kilograms of cocaine in two shopping bags,” “two automatic pistol rifles, later determined to have their serial numbers altered and removed,” and “a black satchel which contained a loaded 9 mm Glock pistol with its serial number intact.”
And officers found what they called “Hells Angels support propaganda,” without identifying what it was.
The Hells Angels produce stickers, T-shirts and other items that have slogans indicating support for the biker gang. Proceeds from “support” items are used to pay for defence lawyers and support incarcerated Hells Angels members, according to evidence accepted by a B.C. Supreme Court judge in the long-running civil case over three Hells Angels' clubhouses.
“Many Hells Angels' chapters also sell products known as `support wear' or `support gear' to non-members,” Justice Barry Davies noted.
The civil forfeiture lawsuit also said that Mounties searched Karvelis's truck bed and found two garbage bags containing “various sizes and calibres of ammunition,” a magazine pouch, a balaclava and used ammunition casings.
Altogether more than five kilograms of cocaine were seized, as were 148 unstamped tobacco products, night vision goggles, $1,510 and two cellphones, the director said, adding that “one of the cellphones contained messages and an audio recording which were consistent with weapons trafficking, drug trafficking and tobacco trafficking.”
The truck should be forfeited because it was used by “Karvelis to engage in unlawful activities,” the statement of claim also alleged.
The crimes include unauthorized possession of firearms, possession of a controlled substance for the purpose of trafficking, and trafficking “a prohibited or restricted firearm or a prohibited device.”
Karvelis has not been charged, nor has he any criminal history in B.C., according to the online court database.
He has not yet filed a statement of defence in the case.
A search of the personal property registry shows he owns several other vehicles and lists home addresses in recent years in Abbotsford, Mission and Chilliwack.