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UPDATE: Bag of drugs, assault rifle lead to charges after man runs from cops

KELOWNA - A Midway man is facing trafficking and weapons charges after fleeing a traffic stop with a bagful of guns, drugs and money. Kelowna RCMP spokesman Const. Jesse O’Donaghey reported in a media release on Thursday that 29-year-old Anthony Graham bolted from his black Mercedes SUV after police stopped him Wednesday afternoon, Jan. 6,...

Convicted Vernon drug smuggler still trying to smuggle drugs in prison: Warden

VERNON - A Vernon man currently serving time for running a massive drug trafficking operation has been denied a request to be moved into minimum security. Brock Palfrey was sentenced to almost 17 years in prison for trafficking cocaine and ecstasy. He and two co-conspirators, also from the Vernon area, were arrested with $200 million...

Sentence reduced for 63-year-old man convicted of bringing cocaine to Kelowna

KELOWNA – A 63-year-old Kelowna man convicted of conspiring to traffic cocaine from Vancouver to Kelowna in 2008 had his sentence reduced in Vancouver Court of Appeal Monday, June 1. RCMP wiretaps revealed Thanh Hai Tran, 41, of Vancovuer was trying to find “good-quality cocaine” for King Ting Yung, 63, to bring to Kelowna. On...

Police find brick of cocaine after collision

KAMLOOPS – Police responding to a collision on the Coquihalla Highway found more than they bargained for thanks to observant witnesses who saw a man hiding stuff in the ditch before RCMP arrived. Police responded to an accident between a Toyota Highlander and a semi-truck on the highway five kilometres south of Kamloops on Tuesday,...

Vernon RCMP disrupt ‘potentially dangerous’ drug trafficking operation

VERNON - Mounties have busted a Vernon drug ring with ties to the Lower Mainland. RCMP spokesperson Gord Molendyk said two men, Andres Naranjo, 21, and Daniel Penton, 21, both of the Lower Mainland but residing in Vernon, were arrested Dec. 19. Naranjo is facing charges of trafficking cocaine and possession of cocaine and heroin...

1.5 kg cocaine, ammunition among items seized in Kelowna bust

KELOWNA - A four-week drug trafficking investigation led Mounties to two Kelowna homes and resulted in two arrests Friday. RCMP entered a residence on the 200 block of Mills Road with a warrant in hand Oct. 10. A second search warrant was executed at a residence on the 1400 block of Crawford Road. In a...

Surrey man lands himself a year in jail for drug trafficking

PENTICTON - A Surrey man found guilty of drug trafficking will spend the next year in jail. Graham V. Jordan, 50, was found guilty of drug trafficking charges laid against him after his arrest in November 2011 in Keremeos. Justice Selwyn Romilly sentenced Jordan to one year in prison on Monday in Penticton Supreme Court. Jordan...

RCMP arrest four suspects for drug trafficking and production

SOUTH OKANAGAN - Four people were arrested last week after RCMP found weapons and a significant amount of drugs during a search warrant at an Oliver residence. On October 2, the South Okanagan RCMP Regional Drug Section, Oliver RCMP Penticton Police Dog Service and South Okanagan Traffic Services executed a search warrant at a residence...

Wife will join husband to face multiple charges relating to guns, stolen property

KAMLOOPS – The wife of a man charged with illegally possessing weapons and stolen property joined her husband in the courtroom to enter not guilty pleas August 11. Jason Robertson, born 1977, faces 36 different charges including possession of stolen property, possession of controlled substance and various weapon-related charges. Originally he was charged alone, before similar...

First sentencing for smuggling cocaine through fruit grinding machine

KELOWNA – One of three men found guilty of helping to bring close to 100 kilograms of cocaine into B.C. from South America was sentenced in Kelowna Supreme Court Wednesday. Mexican national Salvador Ascencio-Chavez, 47, was sentenced to 13 years in jail Wednesday for his role in importing 97 kg of cocaine into Kelowna in...

Charges recommended against BB gun owner

KAMLOOPS – After responding to a complaint of a man waving around a gun, police are recommending charges against three men arrested Monday afternoon at an Upper Sahali residence. The resident, a 46-year-old man, was arrested after RCMP received a report of a drunk man with a handgun. The gun looked like a 9mm but...

Trial begins for resort owner suspected of drug dealing

KAMLOOPS - Today was the first day of a jury trial in Kamloops Supreme Court for a resort owner suspected of dealing drugs out of his home near Cache Creek. Gerald Burgess, 64, owner of Loon Lake Resort was charged with nine counts of possessing prescription medication and cocaine for the purpose of trafficking, along...

Traffic stop results in dial-a-dope arrest

KELOWNA – A traffic stop of a high-end SUV in Kelowna last Friday resulted in the arrest of a man police believe was operating a dial-a-dope service. RCMP Const. Kris Clark says Street Enforcement Teams have been investigating a group of individuals selling drugs out of a rental apartment downtown. Last Friday plainclothes officers conducted...

Former co-accused in smuggling case will be paid to testify

KELOWNA - A Supreme Court Justice ruled Friday that a West Kelowna man living in Manitoba will be reimbursed for expenses incurred while testifying in a criminal trial in Kelowna. Barry Ready, now 53, was at one time a co-accused in the trial of Clifford Roger Montgomery and Tariz Mohammed Aslam of Surrey. Both men...

Mexican drug smuggler put behind Canadian bars

PENTICTON - A Mexican drug smuggler caught at the Osoyoos border was sentenced Monday to six years in jail. Andy J. Garcia Macias, born in 1995, was arrested in January for smuggling cocaine across the U.S. border into Canada. He had travelled from Mexico, crossing the border on foot into the U.S., making his way...

Man found guilty for drug trafficking wants evidence excluded

PENTICTON - Defense counsel made an application for exclusion of evidence used in the trial of a Surrey man found guilty earlier this month of cocaine possession with intent to sell. Graham V. Jordan was found guilty during a trial in Penticton Supreme Court, May 5 and 6 by Justice Selwyn Romilly. Jordan was arrested...

Kamloops man sentenced to U.S. prison

LOS ANGELES – A Kamloops man found guilty of operating a gang-related cocaine-smuggling operation from Mexico received an 11 and a half year jail sentence in the United States on May 12, according to the Vancouver Sun. U.S. District Court Judge George H. Wu delivered the sentence to John Darrel Krokos, 43, of Kamloops, B.C....

RCMP seize extensive cache of firearms, stolen property

KAMLOOPS – Cocaine, marijuana, a crossbow, flat-screen TVs, dozens of guns, ammunition and more are the latest cache grab stored at the Kamloops RCMP detachment. Insp. Brad Mueller shared the results of a three-month investigation into what RCMP believe are gang-related drug activities and led to seven arrests May 7 and 8. Six were released on...

Man caught near Osoyoos with eight bricks of cocaine

OSOYOOS - A 19-year-old Mexican National arrested at the border with a backpack full of cocaine faces sentencing later this month. RCMP and the United States Border Patrol combined efforts, arresting two men near the Boot Lake area east of Oroville/Osoyoos Lake January 3, 2014. Andy Garcia-Macias was arrested soon after he and the other...

From excessive speeding to drug trafficking

PENTICTON — A Burnaby man was found guilty of cocaine possession with intent to sell, after police found a kilogram of cocaine powder in his car. Graham Jordan was pulled over on Highway 3 between Hedley and Keremeos for excessive speeding in November 2011 and was notified by highway patrol that his car would be...