Pubdate: Fri, 14 Aug 2015
Source: Vancouver Sun (CN BC)
Copyright: 2015 Postmedia Network Inc.
Contact:  http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/477
Author: Jeff lee
Page: A4

POLICE SHUT DOWN POT DISPENSARY LINKED TO HELLS ANGELS

Evidence Suggests Youth, People Without Licences Were Sold Drugs

Vancouver police have raided and shut down an unlicensed east 
Vancouver marijuana dispensary they say has ties to the Hells Angels 
motorcycle club.

Following a two-month undercover operation, police moved in on the 
Limelife Society dispensary at 4866 Rupert St. on Wednesday, ending 
what appeared to be a brisk daily business in which anyone could buy 
a variety of exotic strains of pot without showing a medical 
marijuana licence. They arrested a 25-year-old man and later released him.

Vancouver police told reporters they became interested in the shop 
after being told the facility might have links to organized crime. 
Although the police wouldn't identify what organized crime group they 
were investigating, spokesman Sgt. Randy Fincham described it as a 
"fairly substantial group."

However, documents police filed in court seeking a search warrant say 
they linked at least one high-ranking Hells Angel to the dispensary, 
and another who is a Hells Angels associate of interest to police in 
five separate gang intelligence files.

In a 40-page document, police said Limelife operates five pot 
dispensaries in Vancouver. Several of the people involved in the 
operation of the Rupert Street Limelife dispensary are connected with 
Brian Oldham, 48, a full-patch member of the Kelowna chapter of the 
Hells Angels. They include his girlfriend, Shawna Bates, 24, who the 
warrant information says was arrested in 2012 at Vancouver 
International Airport with three grams of marijuana in her bag. She 
was with Oldham at the time, returning from Mexico.

Undercover officers also identified Shane Schuhart, 31, as a Hells 
Angels associate who identified himself as a property representative 
for another Limelife Society dispensary on Granville Street.

Media reports indicate Oldham is sergeant-at-arms with the Hells 
Angels Kelowna chapter.

In 2012 Oldham was charged in connection with a major 
cocainetrafficking operation that snared seven others, including 
Hells Angels Kelowna vice-president David Giles.

In the warrant, police say the Rupert Street Limelife dispensary 
appeared to be run by Ricky Jack Radu, 52, and his girlfriend, Thi 
Kieu Trinh Vu, 42, who live in the upstairs suite. Police say Radu, 
who has convictions or charges for a variety of trafficking or 
assault offences, is an associate of Oldham.

Radu and Oldham were stopped together by police in February outside a 
Vancouver steak house.

Wednesday's bust is only the 11th search warrant Vancouver police 
have carried out against unlicensed marijuana dispensaries since 
October 2013, Fincham said. In those cases, 20 people have been 
arrested and police forwarded 29 recommendations for charges to crown counsel.

Police have said in the past they won't bust unlicensed pot shops 
unless they are found to be selling to minors, involve violent 
activities or are connected to organized crime.

Fincham said in this case there was evidence to suggest young people 
were being sold drugs, and that the owners had links to a criminal group.

"This investigation started after police received information that 
allegedly there was an organized crime group associated to this 
illegal marijuana store," Fincham said. "As the investigation 
progressed, police did learn that a number of youth were coming into 
the store to obtain marijuana, as well as people without a valid licence."

Fincham said police are "keeping pretty close tabs" on who is 
involved with the other Limelife Society dispensaries but have 
limited resources.

"If we do find information to believe that other stores are being run 
by organized crime groups, then that will bring them to the top of 
our radar," he said.

On Thursday no one answered doors at the dispensary, which appeared 
to be heavily fortified with steel doors and a large number of video 
cameras. Two expensive vehicles and a speedboat were parked in the 
side yard. In the search warrant, police also noted those vehicles, 
as well as others, which they connected to Radu, Vu and others. They 
also noted that the vehicles had a cryptic but common Hells Angels 
insignia on them: the number 81. The insignia represents H as the 
eighth letter of the alphabet, and A as the first letter of the alphabet.

They said on at least one occasion the licences of the vehicles were 
switched to other vehicles, a tactic they say drug dealers sometimes 
use to confuse police or throw off surveillance.

Undercover officers reported the store did a brisk business - on 
successive days they counted as many as 55 people entering the 
building over four hours.

According to the search warrant information, Limelife wasn't licensed 
under Health Canada's Medical Marijuana Access Program. Health Canada 
had given personal possession and production licences to two people 
registered at the Rupert Street address.

Police checks also showed that Radu, Vu, Schuhart and the others 
involved in the dispensary don't have medical marijuana licences from 
the federal government.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom