DRUG TRAFFICKERS GUILTY OF COMMITTING CRIMES TO BENEFIT GANG

For the first time, a B.C. court has convicted drug traffickers of
conducting their business to benefit a criminal organization.

The B.C. Supreme Court ruled this week that Kelowna cocaine dealers
Thomas Fraser and Jason Herrick are guilty not only of trafficking but
also of committing their crimes for the profits of their Okanagan gang.

"I am satisfied that the evidence establishes that Mr. Fraser
knowingly instructed others to commit the offences in question for the
benefit of the criminal organization," Justice Geoff Barrow said in
written reasons released Thursday.

"I accept that Mr. Fraser was the leader of this organization and that
as such he regarded the money generated through the cocaine
trafficking as his money. The offences committed at Mr. Fraser's
direction however benefited both him and other members of the
organization, and thus the organization itself. In some cases
trafficking was carried out by members of the organization who were in
turn paid for doing so by Mr. Fraser."

Federal prosecutors in B.C. have tried unsuccessfully to get
convictions against members of the Hells Angels on similar charges.

University of the Fraser Valley criminologist Darryl Plecas said
Friday the Kelowna ruling will now become a precedent for similar cases.

He said this type of ruling in B.C. is long overdue, especially since
similar organized crime convictions have occurred in other provinces.

"It is about time," Plecas said. "It is a no-brainer that most of this
activity involves working for the benefit of a criminal organization.
For one legal reason or another, it has just been incredibly difficult
to make that connection in B.C."

He said the ruling should "be a wake-up call to other people higher up
in the food chain" of crime groups in B.C.

Supt. Brian Cantera, who heads the RCMP's drug enforcement branch in
B.C., praised the landmark ruling Friday.

"It demonstrates that organized crime convictions are possible in the
province of B.C. The ruling has a significant impact for those who
choose to operate in a criminal organization in this province. My
recommendations to those who are involved in a criminal organization
is that they ought to consider the seriousness of the offence,"
Cantera said.

"This ruling also reinforces that the legislation applies to all
criminal organizations, some who are not as notorious as others.
Criminal organizations often pose significant threats to public
safety, which is mostly done by engaging in illicit drug
trafficking."

Fraser, Herrick and several others were charged after a massive
undercover operation in 2006 that culminated with their arrests the
following year.

Police intercepted hundreds of calls between the two men and others
who were either workers or customers of their lucrative cocaine business.

Game Tight Soldier founder Steven Phillip King is captured in some of
the wiretaps, both purchasing cocaine and providing information about
a beating in a local bar.

King has been splitting his time between Penticton and Prince George,
where he associates with the Renegades, the local Hells Angels puppet
club.

Barrow said the overwhelming evidence, which also included
surveillance and cocaine seizures, proved that Fraser and Herrick were
not only traffickers, but clearly working on behalf of their own
criminal organization.

"The inescapable implication is that members of the organization were
generating a profit on the resale of the cocaine," Barrow wrote.

He said ledgers found during one of the police searches documented pay
to some of his workers, as well as drug debts and amounts of product
that had been provided or sold.

And he said conversations captured on wiretap also implicated the
accused in organized crime.

"Mr. Fraser himself explained the relationship between the individuals
and the organization succinctly in a conversation he had with Mr.
Herrick on August 9, 2006 ... In that call Mr. Fraser was anxious that
Mr. Herrick, and others, collect the money that is owed to them. He
explained that: 'Otherwise there's not gonna be any money to be shared
with any of you guys. I'll go back to my old ways and you guys can all
go f---ing work for 7-Eleven.' Barrow said clearly Herrick
"understood. I have no doubt that all of the members of the
organization understood as well."

Barrow also acquitted another accused, Margo Safadi, saying there was
reasonable doubt about her possession of cocaine that was found in a
vehicle she was driving.

The group was well-organized, Barrow said, with the cocaine stashed at
a storage facility that Herrick and others would access. He said
everyone had to report to Fraser and that Herrick kept track of the
books.

Fraser would discipline those in his gang if they did not report back
to him. He was particularly angry in July 2006 when one of his
underlings was stopped by police with cocaine and did not report back
to him for several hours.

"He got f---ing roasted at 5 o'clock this afternoon and then waited
'til 10: 30 f---in' tonight to send a text message," Fraser told
another gang member in one wiretap.

Barrow said Fraser's reaction "underscores the reporting relationships
within the organization, the discipline extracted or enforced by Mr.
Fraser, and the fact that Mr. Fraser and others regarded the
organization as an organization, and not simply a random or ad hoc
group of individuals each pursuing their own independent goals."

"In addition to 'taxing' and chastising members of the group, Mr.
Fraser both threatened to fire and in fact fired, at least
temporarily, members of the organization," the judge said.

And he said the gang "took steps to protect their territory from other
drug dealers."

He noted one conversation in which a rival claimed to be working with
King, the Game Tight Soldiers founder then based in Penticton.

"Mr. Fraser asked Mr. King to go to a bar in Penticton where his
'guys' were. He said: 'I'm going to get them to smash the f---outta
this guy. This is the only f---ing competition we got in town right
now man. I want him out.' "

King later reported back that the problem was taken care
of.

Fraser and Herrick are due to be sentenced in March. Others charged
along with them are yet to go to trial.

*Read the full ruling here:

http://www.courts.gov.bc.ca/jdb-txt/SC/11/00/2011BCSC0032.htm