Pubdate: Mon, 11 May 2015
Source: Vancouver Sun (CN BC)
Copyright: 2015 Postmedia Network Inc.
Contact:  http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/477
Author: Kim Bolan
Page: A1

Special Report/Day 2

SMUGGLER'S SECRET MESSAGES REVEAL DRUGS EASILY PASS THROUGH OUR PORT

How could the Port of Vancouver be misused by organized crime? It's 
not that hard, according to encrypted messages intercepted by police 
that detailed an exchange between one Vancouver man and the 
Ontario-based leader of a major international drug ring three years ago.

Mohamed Reza Amin Torabi told gang boss Nick Nero he had a contact 
person within the port who could control the movement of containers 
full of South American cocaine.

All he needed was the name of the company shipping the container to 
Canada and the actual container number, Amin Torabi explained.

"Hi bro. I am with my buddy. He is ready any time. All the ship come 
from south come to port here. I need transporter name and container 
number when U ready," Amin Torabi, nicknamed 'Big Guy,' said in a May 
2012 BlackBerry message.

A Vancouver Sun investigation has found at least 27 Hells Angels, 
associates, criminals and other gangsters work on the Port Metro 
Vancouver docks. And The Sun has obtained government and police 
documents that show an unaddressed organized crime problem on the 
waterfront dating back more than 20 years.

Details of the encrypted communications between Amin Torabi, Nero and 
others in their criminal organization illustrate the key role of the 
ports in the movement of drugs. The Sun obtained the transcripts from 
court documents filed for kingpin Nero's sentencing hearing in 
Toronto last fall. He was handed a 22-year prison term in October 
2014. Police estimated that Nero was smuggling 400 kilograms of 
cocaine a week into Canada, worth about $1.9 billion a year.

Amin Torabi, now 51, had earlier pleaded guilty to conspiracy to 
import cocaine and received a seven-year prison term.

The documents don't say how the two criminal associates began working together.

But The Sun has learned both men were active in bodybuilding 
competitions across Canada.

Amin Torabi, who was born in Tehran, was crowned Mr. Canada in 2000, 
as well as in the mid-'90s. At the time, he boasted about having 
upper arms that were 22 inches in diameter and thighs that were 33 
inches around. Nero placed seventh in the 2003 Canadian Bodybuilding 
Federation finals and once owned a gym in Niagara Falls.

Niagara Regional Police uncovered Nero's massive drug smuggling ring, 
which led to arrests in three provinces in November 2012.

Staff Sgt. Shawn Clarkson said the smugglers established "various 
routes of transportation as well as smuggling into various ports of 
entry into Canada."

"This criminal organization coordinated with a resourceful Mexican 
drug cartel to provide a high quality and constant supply of 
cocaine," Clarkson told The Sun.

In the intercepted messages, Nero told another player in the drug 
ring that the cost to get the shipment through the Port of Vancouver 
was "25 per cent" of the value of the load.

"All we need is container #. Peru is direct to Vancouver," Nero said 
in an email. "My 'off' says he will take it off no problem." 'Off' is 
slang for a port connection who can off-load drugs.

Amin Torabi told Nero he didn't want to say too much on the 
BlackBerry, but would fly to Toronto to meet him and make the 
arrangements. Police watched the two men as they met others in the 
criminal organization at a downtown Toronto steak house.

Nero later received a message from one of his Mexican cartel 
suppliers saying their "amigo" had a big machine that could be used 
to hide "50, 100 and 200 or more pieces" believed to be a reference 
to kilograms of cocaine that could then be shipped through the port.

"We can start next week," Nero replied. "All good amigo."

Nero was then told the cocaine could be shipped as liquid or in 
pieces inside the containers.

"I think pieces are better. Less work. We cash out faster. Also I 
don't want issues with shares. Units are units. Every one gets what 
they pay for."

Nero used several modes of transportation for the massive amounts of 
cocaine - including shipping containers to both the ports of 
Vancouver and Montreal.

He also had a private jet and flew cocaine into the U.S. and Canada. 
And much of the drug ring's product was trucked across the border.

On May 10, 2012 Nero sent a message to Amin Torabi: "Hi bro. How are 
things with the port - are we ready?"

Amin Torabi responded: "Yes bro. We are ready. Please let me know 
where U sending from. Let me know. I am going see my guy today. It 
will be great work, bro."

A week later, Nero contacted former Vancouver resident Robby 
Alkhalil, who also faces charges in connection with the Ontario drug ring.

Nero asked Alkhalil, whose nickname is TNT in the encrypted messages, 
if he wants in on a shipment from Argentina arriving at the port of 
Vancouver later in May. Alkhalil replied "OK." Amin Torabi's inside 
contact at the Port of Vancouver is not identified in the court 
documents obtained by The Sun.

But in other conversations, Nero said that he works with both the 
"Patch and Irish" - references to the Hells Angels and the West End 
gang in Montreal, which has influence in that city's port. Nero also 
had an earlier conviction in Ontario for selling cocaine to Hells Angels.

Nero messaged another associate on his encrypted BlackBerry, asking 
him to pass along to the suppliers that "my partners in Mtl are 
strong too. They have the ports."

Both Nero and Alkhalil also face first-degree murder charges in the 
June 2012 execution of Johnnie Raposo in Toronto's Little Italy.

And Alkhalil, who was extradited from Greece in February, is charged 
with murder in the targeted shooting of gangster Sandip Duhre in 
Vancouver's Wall Centre in January 2012.

Another stop on Alkhalil's Canadian courthouse tour is Montreal where 
he faces more drug importation and trafficking charges.

One of his co-accused in that case is full-patch Hells Angel Larry 
Amero, of Surrey's West Point chapter. Despite being in jail since 
November 2012 awaiting trial, Amero has maintained his membership in 
Metro Vancouver-based Local 502 of the International Longshore and 
Warehouse Union.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom