Gregory Carr
2022-03-30 20:08:07 UTC
Hells Angels member among 22 people charged in largest drug seizure in Manitoba RCMP history
Charles Lefebvre
CTVNewsWinnipeg.ca Supervising News Producer - Digital
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Updated March 29, 2022 1:16 p.m. PDT
Published March 29, 2022 6:59 a.m. PDT
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A full-patch member of the Hells Angels is among 22 people who have been charged by Manitoba RCMP as part of a four-year investigation leading to what Mounties say is the biggest drug seizure they’ve been involved with.
On Tuesday, Mounties announced the results of Project Divergent, a national and international operation “focused on the importation and distribution of illicit guns and drugs."
Insp. Grant Stephen, officer in charge of federal, serious and organized crime with Manitoba RCMP, said it was the “largest drug seizure in Manitoba RCMP history.”
During the investigation, officers seized 110 kilograms of cocaine, 41.4 kilograms of methamphetamine, three kilograms of fentanyl, and half a kilogram of MDMA. Stephen said the estimated street value of all the drugs seized totalled $70 million.
Officers also seized 14 handguns, five assault-style rifles and more than $445,000 in Canadian money.
“I provide you with this context not to wow you at this seizure, but to show how many people could have been affected by this illicit product, and not only affected, but potentially killed,” he said. (Greg: Police lie. It is both. Insp. Stephen must be pumped at this outcome.)
Jane MacLatchy, assistant commissioner of the Manitoba RCMP, said the arrests made, which include one member of an outlaw biker gang, will have a significant impact.
“We’ve been able to cause a large disruption in the flow of guns and drugs in the country,” she said.
RCMP said Project Divergent started in 2018 after officers noticed trends of international drug importation in the country. During the investigation, RCMP and other police agencies said they saw large-volume transactions of cocaine, methamphetamine, fentanyl and assault-style firearms, and discovered a connection with the Hells Angels.
Damion Ryan, 41, who RCMP says is a full-patch Hells Angels member for the motorcycle gang’s Attica chapter in Greece, was arrested in Ontario in February and is facing numerous charges related to firearms and drug trafficking.
“He has tremendous reach into different networks, both in Canada and internationally,” said Stephen
Other people charged in the investigation include:
Enrico Funk, 29, from Freidensruh, Manitoba;
Artjom Gotting, 32, from Winnipeg, Manitoba;
Nathaniel Cabal, 31, from Winnipeg, Manitoba;
Trinh Ducthang Dinh, 31, from Winnipeg, Manitoba;
Zuhair Mohammad-Zarif, 27, from Winnipeg, Manitoba;
Jesse James Whyte, 26, from Winnipeg, Manitoba;
Kelvin Lee Nelson, 27, from Burnaby, BC;
Mazin Nzar Zandy, 24, from Burnaby, BC;
Andre Omar Steele, 41, from Winnipeg, Manitoba;
Brittany Girardeau, 28, from Winnipeg, Manitoba;
Albert Theodore Jansen, 39, from Winnipeg, Manitoba;
Sharon Jonatanson, 66, from Libau, Manitoba;
Scott Matthew Jonatanson, 27, from Libau, Manitoba;
Caitlin Jones, 22, from Winnipeg, Manitoba;
Owen James Quesnel, 33, from Winnipeg, Manitoba;
William Solomon Gooding, 24, from Winnipeg, Manitoba;
Brian Christopher Yakimoski, 28, from Winnipeg, Manitoba;
Jeffrey David Gaudet, 32, from Winnipeg, Manitoba; and
Dylan Durval South, 28, from Winnipeg, Manitoba.
None of the charges against any of the accused have been proven in court.
RCMP are also looking for two more suspects who have warrants out for their arrest.
Kieffer Michael Kramar, 30, is from Winnipeg, but RCMP believe he could be anywhere in Canada. (Greg: His pic is at the url.)
Kieffer Michael Kramar, 30,is wanted as part of Project Divergent. He is from Winnipeg, but police believe he could be anywhere in Canada. (Image source: Manitoba RCMP)
Denis Ivziku, 24, is from the Lower Mainland of British Columbia, and is believed to still be in that area.
Denis Ivziku, 24,,is wanted as part of Project Divergent. He is from the Lower Mainland of British Columbia, and it is believed he is still in that area. (Image source: Manitoba RCMP) (Greg: His pic is at the url.)
Anyone with information on the location of either man can call RCMP at 204-983-5420.
https://winnipeg.ctvnews.ca/hells-angels-member-among-22-people-charged-in-largest-drug-seizure-in-manitoba-rcmp-history-1.5839123
From Feb. 23 this year: Prominent B.C. Hells Angel arrested in luxury Ottawa home
Damion Ryan is a former member of the elite Ontario Nomads chapter of the Hells Angels, which was disbanded after a dispute with other regional chapters of the biker gang
Author of the article:Kim Bolan
Publishing date:Feb 23, 2022 • February 23, 2022 • 3 minute read • Join the conversation
Damion Ryan, 41, was included in the Vancouver Police Department's release of photos, names and ages of six gangsters with links to Vancouver who pose a significant risk to the safety of the public.
Damion Ryan, 41, was included in the Vancouver Police Department's release of photos, names and ages of six gangsters with links to Vancouver who pose a significant risk to the safety of the public.
Article content
A prominent B.C. Hells Angel, Damion Ryan, has been arrested in Ottawa after an investigation by the RCMP in Manitoba.
Sources confirmed that Ryan, considered a leader of the Wolf Pack gang coalition in the Lower Mainland, had been picked up by police at a luxury home in the nation’s capital.
Manitoba RCMP spokesperson Tara Seel said that she should could “confirm that there is an ongoing RCMP operation in Ottawa.”
“We have not confirmed names. There is no risk to public safety. Additional information on the investigation will be released at a later time,” Seel said in an emailed response to an inquiry specifically about Ryan’s arrest.
She confirmed that the investigation involved an Ottawa house at 88 Rossland Ave. Until last July, the house was owned by Hisham (Terry) Alkhalil, a former B.C. resident who also has connections to the Wolf Pack. He sold it for $1.5 million, property records show. Two of Alkhalil’s brothers were shot to death on the Lower Mainland. A third was gunned down in Mexico in 2018.
Search warrants in connection with the Manitoba investigation were executed in B.C., according to Postmedia sources.
Ryan is a former member of the elite Ontario Nomads chapter of the Hells Angels, which was disbanded after a dispute with other regional chapters of the biker gang.
Hells Angel Damion Ryan blurred his face when he posted this shot with unidentified Hells Angels friends in Europe on his instagram account. From 2017. PNG
He was charged with several drug trafficking counts in Ontario in the summer of 2015. The file was transferred to Vancouver, where he pleaded guilty to two trafficking counts and one of possession of stolen property in 2016. He was sentenced to three months. (Greg: Very lenient sentence.)
Ryan then transferred to a Hells Angels chapter in Greece, but has spent long stretches of time here in B.C. At some point last year, he was denied entry to Greece.
He attended the funeral in Langley in September of original B.C. Hells Angel Michael “Spike” Hadden, who died of cancer in August. (Greg: Cancer it doesn't care if you are a 1%er a tailor a nurse or mentally retarded. BC Cancer Agency https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BC_Cancer_Agency gives way more of the money % wise it raises to cancer care and research than the more famous C.C.S. https://bccancerfoundation.com/ to donate.)
But Ryan had been lying low, mostly out of province, since he was featured in May (Greg: 2021) with 10 other Lower Mainland gangsters on warning posters issued by both the Vancouver Police and B.C.’s anti-gang Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit.
The unusual police tactic came during a jump in gang violence across the region.
Ryan sent several messages to Postmedia at the time, denying he had any role in the gang conflict.
Hells Angel Damion Ryan, who was based in Greece, wore a scarf over his face at Chad Wilson’s December 2018 funeral PHOTO BY JASON PAYNE /PNG
But in reality, Ryan has been targeted for violence more than once, as have his associates in both the Wolf Pack and Hells Angels.
A young Ontario man named Knowah Ferguson was hired to kill Ryan at the food court at Vancouver airport in April 2015. At the time, Ryan was meeting with United Nations gangster Thomas Duong. The would-be hitman, dressed in a burqa, approached Ryan from behind. The gun jammed and both Ryan and the hitman fled. Ferguson, only 18 at the time, was captured and later pleaded guilty. The price on Ryan’s head was $200,000, according to evidence at Ferguson’s sentencing hearing.
In December 2010, Ryan attended a birthday party at a restaurant on Oak Street when gunmen linked to the UN gang opened fire. Ten people were shot, though none died. Ryan was hit in the leg.
Now 41, Ryan’s first B.C. conviction came in 2005 when he was sentenced to five years in connection with a violent home invasion involving a marijuana-growing operation.
***@postmedia.com
twitter.com/kbolan
https://vancouversun.com/news/crime/b-c-hells-angel-arrested-in-ottawa-after-manitoba-investigation
Is Kim Bolan the best crime reporter in Canada? Discuss among yourselves.
Charles Lefebvre
CTVNewsWinnipeg.ca Supervising News Producer - Digital
Follow | Contact
Updated March 29, 2022 1:16 p.m. PDT
Published March 29, 2022 6:59 a.m. PDT
Share
A full-patch member of the Hells Angels is among 22 people who have been charged by Manitoba RCMP as part of a four-year investigation leading to what Mounties say is the biggest drug seizure they’ve been involved with.
On Tuesday, Mounties announced the results of Project Divergent, a national and international operation “focused on the importation and distribution of illicit guns and drugs."
Insp. Grant Stephen, officer in charge of federal, serious and organized crime with Manitoba RCMP, said it was the “largest drug seizure in Manitoba RCMP history.”
During the investigation, officers seized 110 kilograms of cocaine, 41.4 kilograms of methamphetamine, three kilograms of fentanyl, and half a kilogram of MDMA. Stephen said the estimated street value of all the drugs seized totalled $70 million.
Officers also seized 14 handguns, five assault-style rifles and more than $445,000 in Canadian money.
“I provide you with this context not to wow you at this seizure, but to show how many people could have been affected by this illicit product, and not only affected, but potentially killed,” he said. (Greg: Police lie. It is both. Insp. Stephen must be pumped at this outcome.)
Jane MacLatchy, assistant commissioner of the Manitoba RCMP, said the arrests made, which include one member of an outlaw biker gang, will have a significant impact.
“We’ve been able to cause a large disruption in the flow of guns and drugs in the country,” she said.
RCMP said Project Divergent started in 2018 after officers noticed trends of international drug importation in the country. During the investigation, RCMP and other police agencies said they saw large-volume transactions of cocaine, methamphetamine, fentanyl and assault-style firearms, and discovered a connection with the Hells Angels.
Damion Ryan, 41, who RCMP says is a full-patch Hells Angels member for the motorcycle gang’s Attica chapter in Greece, was arrested in Ontario in February and is facing numerous charges related to firearms and drug trafficking.
“He has tremendous reach into different networks, both in Canada and internationally,” said Stephen
Other people charged in the investigation include:
Enrico Funk, 29, from Freidensruh, Manitoba;
Artjom Gotting, 32, from Winnipeg, Manitoba;
Nathaniel Cabal, 31, from Winnipeg, Manitoba;
Trinh Ducthang Dinh, 31, from Winnipeg, Manitoba;
Zuhair Mohammad-Zarif, 27, from Winnipeg, Manitoba;
Jesse James Whyte, 26, from Winnipeg, Manitoba;
Kelvin Lee Nelson, 27, from Burnaby, BC;
Mazin Nzar Zandy, 24, from Burnaby, BC;
Andre Omar Steele, 41, from Winnipeg, Manitoba;
Brittany Girardeau, 28, from Winnipeg, Manitoba;
Albert Theodore Jansen, 39, from Winnipeg, Manitoba;
Sharon Jonatanson, 66, from Libau, Manitoba;
Scott Matthew Jonatanson, 27, from Libau, Manitoba;
Caitlin Jones, 22, from Winnipeg, Manitoba;
Owen James Quesnel, 33, from Winnipeg, Manitoba;
William Solomon Gooding, 24, from Winnipeg, Manitoba;
Brian Christopher Yakimoski, 28, from Winnipeg, Manitoba;
Jeffrey David Gaudet, 32, from Winnipeg, Manitoba; and
Dylan Durval South, 28, from Winnipeg, Manitoba.
None of the charges against any of the accused have been proven in court.
RCMP are also looking for two more suspects who have warrants out for their arrest.
Kieffer Michael Kramar, 30, is from Winnipeg, but RCMP believe he could be anywhere in Canada. (Greg: His pic is at the url.)
Kieffer Michael Kramar, 30,is wanted as part of Project Divergent. He is from Winnipeg, but police believe he could be anywhere in Canada. (Image source: Manitoba RCMP)
Denis Ivziku, 24, is from the Lower Mainland of British Columbia, and is believed to still be in that area.
Denis Ivziku, 24,,is wanted as part of Project Divergent. He is from the Lower Mainland of British Columbia, and it is believed he is still in that area. (Image source: Manitoba RCMP) (Greg: His pic is at the url.)
Anyone with information on the location of either man can call RCMP at 204-983-5420.
https://winnipeg.ctvnews.ca/hells-angels-member-among-22-people-charged-in-largest-drug-seizure-in-manitoba-rcmp-history-1.5839123
From Feb. 23 this year: Prominent B.C. Hells Angel arrested in luxury Ottawa home
Damion Ryan is a former member of the elite Ontario Nomads chapter of the Hells Angels, which was disbanded after a dispute with other regional chapters of the biker gang
Author of the article:Kim Bolan
Publishing date:Feb 23, 2022 • February 23, 2022 • 3 minute read • Join the conversation
Damion Ryan, 41, was included in the Vancouver Police Department's release of photos, names and ages of six gangsters with links to Vancouver who pose a significant risk to the safety of the public.
Damion Ryan, 41, was included in the Vancouver Police Department's release of photos, names and ages of six gangsters with links to Vancouver who pose a significant risk to the safety of the public.
Article content
A prominent B.C. Hells Angel, Damion Ryan, has been arrested in Ottawa after an investigation by the RCMP in Manitoba.
Sources confirmed that Ryan, considered a leader of the Wolf Pack gang coalition in the Lower Mainland, had been picked up by police at a luxury home in the nation’s capital.
Manitoba RCMP spokesperson Tara Seel said that she should could “confirm that there is an ongoing RCMP operation in Ottawa.”
“We have not confirmed names. There is no risk to public safety. Additional information on the investigation will be released at a later time,” Seel said in an emailed response to an inquiry specifically about Ryan’s arrest.
She confirmed that the investigation involved an Ottawa house at 88 Rossland Ave. Until last July, the house was owned by Hisham (Terry) Alkhalil, a former B.C. resident who also has connections to the Wolf Pack. He sold it for $1.5 million, property records show. Two of Alkhalil’s brothers were shot to death on the Lower Mainland. A third was gunned down in Mexico in 2018.
Search warrants in connection with the Manitoba investigation were executed in B.C., according to Postmedia sources.
Ryan is a former member of the elite Ontario Nomads chapter of the Hells Angels, which was disbanded after a dispute with other regional chapters of the biker gang.
Hells Angel Damion Ryan blurred his face when he posted this shot with unidentified Hells Angels friends in Europe on his instagram account. From 2017. PNG
He was charged with several drug trafficking counts in Ontario in the summer of 2015. The file was transferred to Vancouver, where he pleaded guilty to two trafficking counts and one of possession of stolen property in 2016. He was sentenced to three months. (Greg: Very lenient sentence.)
Ryan then transferred to a Hells Angels chapter in Greece, but has spent long stretches of time here in B.C. At some point last year, he was denied entry to Greece.
He attended the funeral in Langley in September of original B.C. Hells Angel Michael “Spike” Hadden, who died of cancer in August. (Greg: Cancer it doesn't care if you are a 1%er a tailor a nurse or mentally retarded. BC Cancer Agency https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BC_Cancer_Agency gives way more of the money % wise it raises to cancer care and research than the more famous C.C.S. https://bccancerfoundation.com/ to donate.)
But Ryan had been lying low, mostly out of province, since he was featured in May (Greg: 2021) with 10 other Lower Mainland gangsters on warning posters issued by both the Vancouver Police and B.C.’s anti-gang Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit.
The unusual police tactic came during a jump in gang violence across the region.
Ryan sent several messages to Postmedia at the time, denying he had any role in the gang conflict.
Hells Angel Damion Ryan, who was based in Greece, wore a scarf over his face at Chad Wilson’s December 2018 funeral PHOTO BY JASON PAYNE /PNG
But in reality, Ryan has been targeted for violence more than once, as have his associates in both the Wolf Pack and Hells Angels.
A young Ontario man named Knowah Ferguson was hired to kill Ryan at the food court at Vancouver airport in April 2015. At the time, Ryan was meeting with United Nations gangster Thomas Duong. The would-be hitman, dressed in a burqa, approached Ryan from behind. The gun jammed and both Ryan and the hitman fled. Ferguson, only 18 at the time, was captured and later pleaded guilty. The price on Ryan’s head was $200,000, according to evidence at Ferguson’s sentencing hearing.
In December 2010, Ryan attended a birthday party at a restaurant on Oak Street when gunmen linked to the UN gang opened fire. Ten people were shot, though none died. Ryan was hit in the leg.
Now 41, Ryan’s first B.C. conviction came in 2005 when he was sentenced to five years in connection with a violent home invasion involving a marijuana-growing operation.
***@postmedia.com
twitter.com/kbolan
https://vancouversun.com/news/crime/b-c-hells-angel-arrested-in-ottawa-after-manitoba-investigation
Is Kim Bolan the best crime reporter in Canada? Discuss among yourselves.