Judge reviews Kelowna Hells Angels track record

The Kelowna chapter of the Hells Angels was started in June 2007 by seven East End members, lead by Damiano Dipopolo. This expansion was financed, in part, by the Decotiss clan, Vancouver real estate developers. In its suit against the Hells Angels, the state identified 14 who have been members of the Kelowna chapter at some time, and said there are nine current members, including one member who's “in the box” – or suspended – due to drug addiction. At the time of the trial the chapter had two “hangarounds” and one prospect.

Full-patch Norman Cocks and Robert Thomas were convicted in 2014 of the killing of Dain Phillips. Phillips was beaten to death with a baseball bat and hammer on June 12, 2011. Cocks remains a member while Robert Thomas was expelled for other reasons. Bruce Skreptak was convicted of a 2010 aggravated assault in Kelowna, in addition to a number of firearms convictions stemming from a 2010 traffic stop.

David Giles and Bryan Oldham were caught up in an elaborate police sting. Giles was convicted of conspiracy to import and traffic cocaine and sentenced to 18 years in jail, where he died. Oldham was convicted of possession for the purpose of trafficking cocaine and sentenced to four years.

“The 'sheer number of convictions' that have been entered into evidence conclusively prove that many members and associates of the East End, Kelowna and Nanaimo chapters of the Hells Angels have committed serious criminal offences,” Justice Davies wrote. “That 'sheer number of convictions' does not, however, prove that any of the offending was done at the direction of or for the benefit of any of those chapters or the Hells Angels as an organization." The judge noted the HA has a reputation for violence that is "at times used by members for the purposes of intimidation."

Coast Guard offloads $400m stash

The Coast Guard offloaded nearly 30,000 pounds of cocaine and marijuana at Port Everglades. The drugs were confiscated in 11 seizures in international waters of the Eastern Pacific Ocean off the coasts of Mexico, Central, and South America, and in the Caribbean Sea. The haul was made up of 23,000 pounds of cocaine and 6,900 pounds of pot. They are valued at more than $400m.

‘Angry Chef’ Troy Henson wanted

Troy Jonathan Henson, 42, used to run the 'The Angry Chef' in Chilliwack. He was charged with three counts of trafficking in a controlled substance along with Adrian Jonathan Skerratt, 32, and Thomas Edward Borecky. The others appeared, Henson did not. A warrant was issued for his arrest 22 months ago. Henson’s mugshot appeared in Vancouver's 'most wanted' list. Henson is described as 5’8” (172 centimetres) tall, weighing 400 pounds (180 kgs), with brown hair and brown eyes.

Troy Jonathan Henson and Adrian Jonathan Skerratt

B.C. Hells Angels clubhouses not forfeited to state

After an eight-year legal battle, B.C.'s civil forfeiture office has failed in seizing the Kelowna Hells Angels clubhouse. The office sought to seize Hells Angel clubhouses in Kelowna, Vancouver and Nanaimo. The clubhouse in Kelowna has been on the RCMP’s radar for years.

The clubhouse at 871 Ellis Street has been a target of the civil forfeiture office since 2012 with proceedings against registered owner Richard Goldammer.

In 2012, police conducted a large cocaine smuggling investigation, resulting in the incarceration of the club’s vice president David Giles, who later died in prison. Long time Kelowna chapter president is Damiano Dipopolo

The Hells Angels clubhouse in Nanaimo was seized in 2007.

The judge said the state had not provided enough evidence that the Hells Angels were an international criminal network. He also struck down part of the Civil Forfeiture Act that allows for property to be seized based on its possible future use for unlawful activity, saying the provision fell outside of provincial jurisdiction.

East End Hells Angels clubhouse at 3598 East Georgia Street

See ---->Police agent Plante still a pain to Hells Angels

Dany 'Lou' Sprinces Cadet denied parole

Dany 'Lou' Sprinces Cadet will automatically qualify for statutory release later this year when he reaches the two-thirds mark of his sentence.

Lou Sprinces Cadet, Gregory Woolley, 48, and Jean Winsing Barthelus, 41, were the leaders of the Syndicate, a street gang Woolley created in 1999 during Quebec’s biker gang war. When members of that network were rounded up in 2001 in 'Operation Springtime', he took over as leader of the Syndicate. He was sentenced to four years after having pleaded to drug trafficking, conspiracy and committing a crime for the benefit of a criminal organization.

Poland seizes three tonnes of cocaine

Polish cops have seized more than three tonnes of cocaine hidden in barrels of frozen pineapple pulp. Cops arrested three men from the northern Polish region of Pomerania. The cocaine was discovered in the northern port city of Gdynia. It had been transported by ship to Hamburg from Ecuador. Wholesale value is around $761m.

Trangmar misunderstood

A NZ man who thought he was Hitler's grandson as he went on a rampage will remain behind bars as he gets psychological treatment. For two days in 2010, Te Rangi Jamie Charles Marshall,'Trangmar', went wild, firing shots into the roof of a bar and threatening residents with a sawn-off shotgun leaving several people injured. He's too dangerous to be released says the parole board.

Trangmar faced 17 charges, including aggravated robbery, kidnapping, assault, injuring with intent, threatening to kill and wilful damage.

Trangmar thought he was an SAS member and a trained assassin who could communicate through a microchip in his head - in particular with birds and crickets. Marshall's history on the outside isn't great. On his last release on Dec 4, 2019 he suffered a rapid decline which saw him recalled to jail five days later.

Mexican Army seizes more than 2 tons of meth

The Mexican Army seized more than 2 tons of methamphetamine, cocaine, heroin, fentanyl, and marijuana during separate security operations in the border states of Sonora and Baja California late last week. Soldiers found 1,366 plastic containers containing 1,989.4 pounds of methamphetamine, 4.4 pounds of heroin, 17,052 fentanyl pills, and 1,060.7 pounds of marijuana for a total weight of 3,053 pounds. Another bust at a checkpoint about 100 miles south of Nogales, Arizona produced 631 packages of meth weighing 1,122 pounds, 14.3 pounds of cocaine, and 17.6 pounds of heroin. The total weight of the contraband came out to 1,153 pounds.

Recently, Mexican Federal Police seized more than 550 pounds of meth, heroin, and fentanyl near San Luis, Arizona. The smugglers were able to flee. Most seizures are the result of the Sinaloa Cartel’s escalated production using “super labs.”

Sources say the cartel has boosted production.

Big Jim Colosimo: The father of the Chicago Outfit

Vincenzo 'Big Jim' Colosimo was a crime boss who emigrated from Calabria in 1895 and rose from a street sweeper to building a criminal empire in Chicago based on prostitution, gambling, and racketeering. From 1902 until his death in 1920, he led a gang that became known as the Chicago Outfit. Johnny Torrio was an enforcer Colosimo imported in 1909 from New York. Al Capone was Torrio's henchman, and his driver. On May 11, 1920 Colosimo was killed by two shots. Chicago had lost its first mob boss.

His murder was unsolved.

His funeral set the standard for gangland sendoffs. The milelong cortege was led by brass bands and was big news. “Thousands blocked nearby streets, clung to fire escapes, leaned from windows and peered down from roofs on the funeral procession.” Torrio took over Colosimo’s criminal enterprises. In 1925, he was shot several times during an assassination attempt. He took early retirement and turned the operation over to Capone.

Johnny Torrio

2 tons of cocaine found in Ecuador banana shipment

Customs at the Port of Rotterdam found 2,020 kg of cocaine hidden inside a sea container of bananas. The shipment had arrived from Guayaquil, Ecuador, and was to continue to Hungary. Street value is more than 151 million euros. Last week cops found another 374 kg of cocaine in a different banana shipment. That shipment was valued at 28m euros.