Monday, June 12, 2017

B.C. longshoreman loses court battle for security pass

Arun Randhawa challenged a Transport Canada decision to deny him clearance because of organized crime links of his brothers, both of whom are also longshoremen. Alexie Randhawa was arrested in California in 2008 with 107 kilograms of cocaine. He served four years of a five-year sentence before returning to Canada and his job as a longshoreman. U.S. court documents recorded the drug conspiracy with Alexie Randhawa and Jason Cavezza. Authorities said they ran “one of the largest, most sophisticated, and most financially significant drug-smuggling operations ever uncovered in Oregon.”
Alvin Randhawa pleaded guilty in New York State last August to conspiracy to export cocaine from the U.S. Police intercepted a tractor-trailer with 26 kilograms of cocaine hidden inside a secret compartment. Police believe the men used international bridges to smuggle 2,000 kilograms of cocaine.
Arun Randhawa argued that he has had minimal contact with his brothers over the years and that he is a law-abiding citizen with no criminal record. In its case against Randhawa, Transport Canada said his brothers were members of “an organized crime group involved in cross border narcotics smuggling” that had links with “the Hells Angels, the Japanese Mafia, and Chinese criminals.”

Vancouver longshoreman Jason Cavezza
Randhawa was hired as a casual longshoreman in 2013. He can continue to work on the docks, but will not be able to access restricted areas or perform some tasks.

Jason Cavezza, despite his criminal convictions, has maintained good standing in the International Longshoremen and Warehouse Union, local 514. Cavezza returned to work on Vancouver docks directly after being released from US prison. His partner Alexie Randhawa has done very well. He purchased an Abbotsford property with two others in September 2013 for $1,071,428. Then he bought a second property in Burnaby a year later for $1,053,000.