I鈥檓 a sucker for a good court case.
I used to cover a lot of them in my Richmond days.
Over the years, I heard and wrote stories about drug dealers, people smugglers, kidnappers, killers and many other bad people.
Even had to testify against a couple of criminals鈥攁 sex offender and the operator of an illegal marijuana grow-op; they both went to jail.
A recent court case revealed the connection of a 麻豆传媒映画cabbie to a drug dealer and the laundering of money in casinos. Photo by Dan Toulgoet
So it was quite the read when I got around to leafing through Provincial Court Judge Nancy Phillips鈥� reasons for sentencing convicted drug dealer Raymon Singh Ranu to seven years in prison.
Her reasons were posted May 13 to the court鈥檚 website.
You may have read my colleague Jessica Kerr鈥檚聽, which dates back to October 2014. That鈥檚 when the 麻豆传媒映画police began investigating Ranu and others.
The level of drug dealing was one thing, but there were two pieces in Phillips鈥� narrative that stood out for me in a city where ride-hailing services and casinos are regular newsmakers.
The first piece: A cabbie was involved in the drug network.
The second piece: A conversation between an undercover cop and Ranu in the cab was black-and-white proof that drug dealing is tied to money laundering in casinos.
I鈥檒l start with the cabbie.
He is only identified as 鈥淢r. Khan鈥� in the documents. I鈥檝e since learned his first name is Shazada. He worked for Yellow Cab and was charged with eight counts related to trafficking of heroin and fentanyl.
He pleaded guilty to two counts in November 2016 and received a suspended sentence March 31, 2017.
What did he do?
I鈥檒l let the judge explain.
鈥淢r. Khan and his taxi cab appear to have been at Mr. Ranu鈥檚 beck and call, indicative of financial means and detection avoidance,鈥� she wrote.
鈥淭he police also surveilled the taxi and Mr. Ranu鈥檚 own vehicle [a Range Rover] to various locations in Metro Vancouver, where he was seen in the presence of Mr. McCormick, a supplier of fentanyl Mr. Ranu sold to the undercover officer.鈥�
鈥淢r. McCormick鈥� is Walter James McCormick, who was sentenced in January 2017 to 13 years and 144 days in prison for his involvement in the drug trade, specifically the selling of fentanyl.
The judge pointed out that Khan introduced the undercover officer to Ranu. The officer鈥檚 story was that he worked in the Northwest Territories and came to 麻豆传媒映画on his days off to buy heroin and fentanyl to sell up North.
鈥淥n occasion, drugs were provided to the officer by Mr. Ranu,鈥� Phillips wrote. 鈥淥n other occasions, someone else in the taxi handled drugs or money while Mr. Ranu was in the vehicle, or by someone else after Mr. Ranu had negotiated a deal with the officer.鈥�
Now to that conversation in the cab between Ranu and the officer鈥�
It happened in January 2015. The officer bought 29 grams of heroin and 1,001 fentanyl pills. The judge picks up the story from there:
鈥淚n the audio recording in the taxi on this date, the undercover officer asked Mr. Ranu for advice on how to deal with the cash from the sale of the drugs and Mr. Ranu advised him to launder the money through casinos.鈥�
The judge said later that 鈥淸Ranu] made clear he knew how to launder the proceeds of crime in casinos, another matter of concern to the community.鈥�
That was in January 2015.
Stellar investigative reporting by Kathy Tomlinson and Xiao Xu of the Globe and Mail provided more insight in February 2018 into the fentanyl trade and its ties to the 麻豆传媒映画real estate market.
Former Postmedia reporter Sam Cooper, now with GlobalNews, also broke--and continues to break--stories on money laundering in B.C. and its ties to gangsters and casinos.
Combined, that reporting triggered the provincial government-commissioned reports released this year and last from Dr. Peter German and the expert panel on money laundering in real estate that estimated more than $7 billion in 鈥渄irty money鈥� was laundered in B.C. in 2018.
The luxury car market was also identified as a conduit for the laundering of criminal proceeds.
Now we鈥檙e on to a public inquiry into money laundering.
Which means one thing for all us suckers who enjoy a good court case: You can bet more fascinating stories will be heard and written on what 麻豆传媒映画has become and what people will do to make an illegal buck in one of the most unaffordable cities in the world.
In the meantime, you can read Phillips鈥櫬�
One last note:聽The BC Coroners Service reported 1,514 overdose deaths in the province in 2018, the vast majority linked to fentanyl. Of those 1,514 deaths, 389 occurred in Vancouver.
