[StylinRed]

kind of related

3 locals who've been involved or victims of shootings here had fled to the Philippines and tried to start a drug operation there but the Philippines version of the FBI, the NBI, just busted their operation and now they're facing life in prison

1 of them is married to Tara Hadden Watts, whose uncle is the president of the Haney HA, and her sister is the girl who became paralyzed from the shooting that killed one of the Bacons and injured Larry Amero up in Kelowna. She was also over there and also arrested.

there are pics etc over at the link

Long-time Vancouver gangsters arrested in Philippine drug raid (updated)


After a dramatic arrest in the Philippines Wednesday, Vancouver gangster Barry Espadilla quipped on his Facebook page that jail in Manila “is actually a lot better than jail over there (in B.C.).”

He even took a shot at North Fraser Pre-trial, where he has been held several times while awaiting trial on charges ranging from manslaughter to firearms offences.

Espadilla and his Independent Soldiers’ gang-mate James Riach, both 31, are facing possible life sentences after a major drug bust in Manila by the country’s National Bureau of Investigation.

The NBI raided three luxury suites linked to the B.C. men and found a drug lab and large amounts of cocaine, ecstasy and methamphetamine.

The Philippines’ Justice Secretary Leila de Lima told reporters that she was informed by the NBI of the raid at 3 a.m. local time.

She said local authorities believe the Canadians had been operating in the country for seven months and that the probe began about two months ago after the NBI received a tip.

Both men left B.C. for the Philippines last year in part because they were targeted in a gang war that has been raging for years.

Riach and Espadilla are part of the Wolf Pack, a coalition made up of some IS members, some Red Scorpions and some Hells Angels.

Riach was in a vehicle with Scorpion leader Jon Bacon and HA member Larry Amero when it was targeted in a Kelowna shooting in 2011. Bacon was killed, Amero wounded and Riach escaped unharmed.

Also in the vehicle was Leah Hadden-Watts, who was paralyzed. She is the niece of the president of the Hells Angels Haney chapter.

Her sister, Tara Hadden-Watts, is in the Philippines with Espadilla and their young son. News reports indicate that she was also picked up by police Wednesday, though does not appear to have been charged.

Another Metro Vancouver gangster with a string of convictions here, Ali Shirazi, was arrested in one of the apartments where Riach was found.

De Lima was quoted in news reports as saying the drugs had been smuggled from Mexico and were being processed by Riach and Espadilla to be distributed in Filipino night clubs and bars.

Const. Doug Spencer, a BC Transit cop and gang expert, said Wednesday that he’s known both Riach and Espadilla for years.

“They are very active gang members involved in the drug trade in Vancouver,” said Spencer, who does anti-gang presentations for the Odd Squad society.

“Because of the contracts on their lives over the last couple of years, the kind of bloodshed that has gone on, they thought they couldn’t continue activities here where they are known, so they’ve gone abroad where they think they’re not known.”

Spencer said the pair will likely get sentences in the Philippines that are much longer than what they would have faced in B.C.

“It is another bad decision in their lives and now it’s going to have 10 times the ramifications than it would here,” he said.

Foreign Affairs spokesman Mathieu Roy said in an emailed statement: “We are aware of reports that two Canadians have been arrested in the Philippines. Consular officials are liaising with local authorities to gather additional information. Consular services will be provided as required.”

Both Riach and Espadilla have long criminal records in B.C.

Riach was convicted in 2010 of possession and careless storage of a loaded .45-calibre semi-automatic Glock pistol found under his mattress. Espadilla was convicted only of heroin and cocaine possession.

Both were acquitted of more serious gun charges after an arsenal of weapons was found in their luxury Yaletown condo.

Espadilla has a manslaughter conviction as well.

The Wolf Pack has faced a series of blows recently. Red Scorpion leader Matt Campbell was murdered in Abbotsford earlier this month. Another associate named Nick Kljajic was shot and wounded inside a Burnaby restaurant last week.

And Amero, the high-profile Hells Angel, has been sitting in a Montreal jail cell awaiting trial on cocaine smuggling charges.

kbolan@vancouversun.com



Read more: Long-time Vancouver gangsters arrested in Philippine drug raid (updated)

It sounds like the NBI did them a favour too based on this Province article it sounds like they were about to be targeted again because

The suspects have alleged links to a Mexican cartel and are undercutting Chinese traffickers dominating the local market, which could lead to a violent drug war in the Philippines, said Rommell Vallejo, chief of the Anti-Organized and Transnational Crime Division of the National Bureau of Investigation.

Vallejo said the Canadian group was selling crystal meth at half the price offered by the Chinese.

"There are so many Chinese syndicates involved in drugs, and some of them will feel threatened by these cheap drugs," he said. "I believe that if we don't check it, this will lead to a drug war."

http://www.theprovince.com/news/Cana...911/story.html