 | Omid Tahvili is an Iranian-Canadian gangster who is the kingpin of an organized crime family in Canada which is connected to various international crime organizations. Tahvili came to Canada from Iran in 1994. In November 2000, he was arrested with his brother-in-law for possession of 3 kilograms (6.6 lb) of cocaine. Tahvili was found not guilty. By 2003, the RCMP recognized Tahvili as leading one of the main criminal organizations operating out of an Iranian community in Canada. At that time, dozens of Iranian expatriates were working under him |  |
 | From 1999 to 2002, he ran a fraudulent telemarketing business that targeted elderly people in the United States, stealing approximately US$3 million from hundreds of victims. A federal arrest warrant was issued for Tahvili and he was charged with mail fraud, wire fraud, telemarketing fraud and aiding and abetting. Tahvili was arrested in B.C. on an extradition warrant and ordered extradited to the United States on May 4, 2007. In November, while appealing, Tahvili escaped from the maximum-security North Fraser pre-trial facility where he was being held. |
 | Prison guard Edwin Ticne helped Omid Tahvili escape for $ 50,000. Surveillance video from the night of the escape showed Ticne leading Tahvili, dressed as a cleaner, through four security gates to freedom. Ticne was sentenced to three years and three months in jail. |  |
 | A year later Tahvili called the RCMP and said he was in Toronto. He indicated he would surrender on the promise he wouldn't be extradited to the US. Caller ID showed he was calling from Toronto, but police were skeptical. They believe he fled to his native Iran, which does not have an extradition treaty with Canada. Tahvili has connections throughout Canada, Europe and the Middle East, and remains an international fugitive. |  |
