Reza Amin and his trainer Desiree Ellis |
Part Two
Blackberry messages reveal how drugs easily pass through Vancouver’s port
It’s
not that hard, according to encrypted messages intercepted by police that
detailed an exchange between one Vancouver man and the Ontario-based leader of
a major international drug ring three years ago.
Mohamed
Reza Amin Torabi told gang boss Nick Nero he had a contact person within the
port who could control the movement of containers full of South American
cocaine.
All
he needed was the name of the company shipping the container to Canada and the
actual container number, Amin Torabi explained.
“Hi
bro. I am with my buddy. He is ready any time. All the ship come from south
come to port here. I need transporter name and container number when U ready,”
Amin Torabi, nicknamed ‘Big Guy,’ said in a May 2012 BlackBerry message.
A
Vancouver Sun investigation has found at least 27 Hells Angels, associates,
criminals and other gangsters work on the Port Metro Vancouver docks. And The
Sun has obtained government and police documents that show an un-addressed
organized crime problem on the waterfront dating back more than 20 years.
Details
of the encrypted communications between Amin Torabi, Nero and others in their
criminal organization illustrate the key role of the ports in the movement of
drugs. The Sun obtained the transcripts from court documents filed for kingpin
Nero’s sentencing hearing in Toronto last fall. He was handed a 22-year prison
term in October 2014.
Police
estimated that Nero was smuggling 400 kilograms of cocaine a week into Canada,
worth about $1.9 billion a year.
Amin
Torabi, now 51, had earlier pleaded guilty to conspiracy to import cocaine and
received a seven-year prison term.
The
documents don’t say how the two criminal associates began working together.
But
The Sun has learned both men were active in bodybuilding competitions across
Canada.
Amin
Torabi, who was born in Tehran, was crowned Mr. Canada in 2000, as well as in
the mid-‘90s. At the time, he boasted about having upper arms that were 22
inches in diameter and thighs that were 33 inches around. Nero placed seventh
in the 2003 Canadian Bodybuilding Federation finals and once owned a gym in
Niagara Falls.
Niagara
Regional Police uncovered Nero’s massive drug smuggling ring, which led to
arrests in three provinces in November 2012.
Staff
Sgt. Shawn Clarkson said the smugglers established “various routes of
transportation as well as smuggling into various ports of entry into Canada.”
“This
criminal organization coordinated with a resourceful Mexican drug cartel to
provide a high quality and constant supply of cocaine,” Clarkson told The Sun.
In
the intercepted messages, Nero told another player in the drug ring that the
cost to get the shipment through the Port of Vancouver was “25 per cent” of the
value of the load.
“All
we need is container #. Peru is direct to Vancouver,” Nero said in an email.
“My ‘off’ says he will take it off no problem.” ‘Off’ is slang for a port
connection who can off-load drugs.
Amin
Torabi told Nero he didn’t want to say too much on the BlackBerry, but would fly
to Toronto to meet him and make the arrangements. Police watched the two men as
they met others in the criminal organization at a downtown Toronto steak house.
"All Good Amigo"
Nero
later received a message from one of his Mexican cartel suppliers saying their
“amigo” had a big machine that could be used to hide “50, 100 and 200 or more
pieces” believed to be a reference to kilograms of cocaine that could then be
shipped through the port.
“We
can start next week,” Nero replied. “All good amigo.”
Nero
was then told the cocaine could be shipped as liquid or in pieces inside the
containers.
“I
think pieces are better. Less work. We cash out faster. Also I don’t want
issues with shares. Units are units. Every one gets what they pay for.”
Nero
used several modes of transportation for the massive amounts of cocaine —
including shipping containers to both the ports of Vancouver and Montreal.
He
also had a private jet and flew cocaine into the U.S. and Canada. And much of
the drug ring’s product was trucked across the border.
On
May 10, 2012 Nero sent a message to Amin Torabi: “Hi bro. How are things with
the port — are we ready?”
Amin
Torabi responded: “Yes bro. We are ready. Please let me know where U sending
from. Let me know. I am going see my guy today. It will be great work, bro.”
A
week later, Nero contacted former Vancouver resident Robby Alkhalil, who also
faces charges in connection with the Ontario drug ring.
Nero
asked Alkhalil, whose nickname is TNT in the encrypted messages, if he wants in
on a shipment from Argentina arriving at the port of Vancouver later in May.
Alkhalil
replied “OK.”
Amin
Torabi’s inside contact at the Port of Vancouver is not identified in the court
documents obtained by The Sun.
Rabih Alkhalil |
But
in other conversations, Nero said that he works with both the “Patch and Irish”
— references to the Hells Angels and the West End gang in Montreal, which has
influence in that city’s port. Nero also had an earlier conviction in Ontario
for selling cocaine to Hells Angels.
Nero
messaged another associate on his encrypted BlackBerry, asking him to pass
along to the suppliers that “my partners in Mtl are strong too. They have the
ports.”
Both
Nero and Alkhalil also face first-degree murder charges in the June 2012
execution of Johnnie Raposo in Toronto’s Little Italy.
And
Alkhalil, who was extradited from Greece in February, is charged with murder in
the targeted shooting of gangster Sandip Duhre in Vancouver’s Wall Centre in
January 2012.
Another
stop on Alkhalil’s Canadian courthouse tour is Montreal where he faces more
drug importation and trafficking charges.
One
of his co-accused in that case is full-patch Hells Angel Larry Amero, of
Surrey’s West Point chapter. Despite being in jail since November 2012 awaiting
trial, Amero has maintained his membership in Metro Vancouver-based Local 502
of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union.
Big boys using phones. You reap what you sow.
ReplyDeleteBring the Mongols they work the San Pedro n Long Beach Ports better than these clowns.
ReplyDeleteJust business as usual. The F ing government should just keep its nose out of it. Giving the choice of trusting H A or the government, my vote goes to H A. They won't screw you like government will. And thats all three governments, Mexico, Canada, and the United States.
ReplyDeleteBut the blackberry was supposed to be safe, even Obama and Hillary trusted their deepest and more intimate secrets on blackberry...
ReplyDelete--now I see, it was just communist propaganda...
The rim network failed over 6 years ago wake up homie
DeleteOhh no!!! Comunist propaganda!! :0
DeleteF2F is only safe way. It's always been and will always be.
DeleteMay 19, 2015 @ 1:30 AM: How do you coordinate bi-weekly shipments across international borders only doing face to face every time?
DeleteFace time lol
DeleteWith arms like that your bound 2 stick out like a sore thumb.Y not b a little more low key hot shot.
ReplyDeleteFood for fodder for folks always commenting on the girth of my paisas
ReplyDeleteThe paisas are being fed foodstuffs that cattle will not eat...
DeleteReza amin clearly shows he is on steroids...
--fools, gyms and steroids go so all together...
CHIVIS !! Panchito f 1 captured or Bdn making stuff up again lol
ReplyDeletesteroids dont make you bullet proof
ReplyDeleteDude's way weak.
ReplyDeleteShould read Part 1 of this story, which gives background on what might seem to be "cover" given to drug importers by Port of Vancouver authorities and other Canadian law enforcement agencies. Should also read "Black Mass," which describes how Boston FBI gave cover to Whitey Bulger and associates for decades, in exchange for related info on mob activities around Boston. "Black Mass" has been made into a movie, with J. Depp, due for 2015 release.
ReplyDeleteSeems like Canada is underdeveloped when it comes to organized crime. Where else are bodybuilders and biker gangs on top of the food chain?
ReplyDeleteTrailer parks bro!
Delete4:36pm
DeleteActually, in terms of violence Canadian criminals are overdeveloped, they once resorted to terrorist tactics but, of course, since you're not aware of it you wrote what you wrote.
@4:36PM
DeleteI responed to you with an earlier comment mentioning how Canada's organized crime is far from underdeveloped but "overdeveloped" when it comes to violence. In the early 90's they resorted to domestic terrorism, a war that lasted nearly a decade. Google "Quebec bike war". I suspect my first comment didn't get through because somebody thought I was making shit up. I wasn't.
From Canada to Arizona, el gran jefe still rules, Joe Bonnanno, aka Joe bananas, and his plan was bigger and better than las vegas, and all his...
DeleteThanks BB for posting my two comments
DeleteIn Canada if you have brains and a legal work ethic you will be rich.
ReplyDeleteOnly the low IQ and lazy turn to crime in Canada!
This applies worldwide
ReplyDeletela marina all ovr cualican suburb, rumor is they looking for el azul..things it is getting wierd now.
ReplyDeleteThe pgp encrypted blackberrys are extremely secure. The only reason this roid monkeys communications were intercepted is because he had the password for his blackberry written on a sticky note stuck to the back of his blackberry like a real fuckin moron!!
ReplyDeleteWell, thanks in the name of hillary and Obama, they must be busy taking their passwords from the back of their blackberrys...
Delete