KINGPIN BUSTED IN DRUG RAID
Que. police arrest 103, seize 400 firearms, explosives, $255,000 in cash
Larry Amero, a former White Rock Hells Angel wounded in a Kelowna gang shooting last year, is one of two men with B.C. links nabbed in a huge Quebec drug bust
Three men with ties to B.C. are alleged to have been involved with a narcotics trafficking ring that originated in the Lower Mainland and was busted in Quebec on Thursday.
Quebec police announced they had targeted 128 people, arrested 103 and seized a number of materials during the raids, which took place in about 30 Quebec municipalities.
They said the organization hatched its plan in B.C. and moved east, eventually processing millions of dollars worth of drugs each week. Police said the organization managed to rake in an estimated $50 million in six months.
One of those arrested was 35-yearold Larry Amero, a former full-patch member of the White Rock chapter of the Hells Angels and current member of the Hells Angels Westpoint chapter. Amero was injured in the August 2011 shooting outside a Kelowna hotel and casino that left Red Scorpion Jonathan Bacon dead.
Amero moved to Quebec a number of months ago. He was arrested in Montreal in July for suspected impaired driving following an accident.
Shane “Wheels” Maloney, 35, was also arrested. Maloney grew up on the Lower Mainland but lives in Montreal and is reportedly linked to Montreal’s Irish West End Gang.
Maloney was on bail after being arrested last year in connection with the beating of an off-duty Montreal police detective in Playa del Carmen, Mexico.
Still at large is Rabih Alkhalil, 25. The organized crime group with which Alkhalil is associated is based in Eastern Canada, however he is allegedly involved in the current gang conflict in B.C.
Two of Alkhalil’s brothers were killed in B.C. in 2001 and 2003.
Police say Amero, Maloney and Alkhalil held leadership roles within the new crime group.
“Three of the men arrested by the Surete du Quebec today are key figures in B.C.’s gang conflict,” Dan Malo, Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit B.C. chief officer, said in a statement.
Quebec provincial police Insp. Michel Forget said the investigation into the well-organized group began last spring, aided by 30 different forces across Canada, including the RCMP.
“[It was] an important drug cartel formed by six individuals [in Quebec] who had the capacity to import and distribute large quantities in Quebec and elsewhere in Canada,” Forget told reporters at provincial police headquarters in Montreal.
Forget said the probe revealed that the drugs were being imported into Canada from the U.S. using trucks.
The group allegedly used a middleman to co-operate with Mexican drug cartels and appeared to have the capacity to import and distribute about 75 kilograms of cocaine per week. Police seized 400 firearms, explosives, $255,000 in cash, marijuana, cocaine and other drugs. They also seized 13 vehicles and five homes worth about $1.5 million.
The accused face a variety of charges, including drug-trafficking, conspiracy and gangsterism.
“The group did not hesitate to use violence to take control and expand their territories,” Forget said.
Police described the ring as a well-organized “consortium” that had help from a variety of groups, including the Hells Angels as well as the Italian and Irish Mafia.
“They’ve all converged ... to put their efforts and networks together in order to ensure a distribution network of that nature,” Forget said.
Police say the organization managed to implant itself quickly in Central Canada because of a void that had developed there. They said that opening occurred after police operations against biker gangs, street gangs and the Italian Mafia over the last decade.