Permit under review for establishment run by alleged Canadian ‘boss’ of U.S. pot-and-cocaine ring connected to the Hells Angels
The B.C. Liquor Control Branch is reviewing a liquor licence for a Surrey strip club linked to a man charged in the U.S. in a major drug smuggling case connected to the Hells Angels, The Vancouver Sun has learned.
Trevor Alan Jones, who runs T-Barz Exotic Adventure Room in Surrey, is facing 14 charges south of the border, including conspiracy to distribute cocaine and marijuana, as well as money laundering.
U.S. authorities allege the 41-year-old was the Canadian “boss” of a drug ring that was distributing up to a tonne of pot and 200 kilograms of cocaine a month for several years.
The ring was broken up last year with a series of arrests in several states, and the seizure of almost $2 million US and 1,000 kilograms of cocaine from various locations.
Jones, the twin brother of full-patch White Rock Angel Randy Jones, has been running T-Barz at 10458 137th St. for years. The club is owned by a numbered company registered at Jones’s Langley house.
The only corporate director is Jones’s mother Gladys Ann, who is listed as living at the same 26th Avenue address in Langley
Trevor Jones has spoken on behalf of T-Barz at Surrey City Council meetings, according to public minutes.
U.S. court documents describe him as the owner of the strip club.
A B.C. government official confirmed to The Sun that “the province is reviewing the next steps associated with this particular licence.”
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said one of the factors the government uses to determine whether an individual is suitable to hold a liquor licence “is whether the licensee is involved in criminal activities, or is associated with someone who is.”
“Where information is obtained subsequent to the licence being granted that reveals issues of concern, the province may at any time initiate a review of the licensee to determine whether the licensee continues to be suitable to hold a liquor licence, and may take appropriate action, up to and including cancelling the licence,” the official said.
T-Barz also holds a City of Surrey business licence, which is up for renewal on April 30.
Surrey Mayor Dianne Watts said businesses licences are granted after applicants meet criteria under the Liquor Control Act.
Jones did not return phone and email messages left at his home and two businesses.
T-Barz is not the only B.C. business linked to Jones. He and his Hells Angel twin started Dank Energy Drinks in 2009. They boast on their website that the hemp-infused beverage is “a new, healthy lifestyle choice for the energy drink market.”
“Get a buzz without the fuzz,” the site says. Until recently, it featured a photo of two RCMP officers drinking Dank.
Randy ceased being a director of Dank in October 2010, according to corporate documents.
Trevor briefly ceased being a director on May 30, 2011 — just 19 days after he was indicted in the U.S. But he was reinstated as a Dank director on Sept. 16, 2011, the documents show.
Dank hosted a party on Oct. 14, 2009 at T-Barz with the band Swollen Members performing.
Canadian and U.S. officials would not comment this week on whether an extradition request has been made for Trevor Jones, who is listed as a fugitive on the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’s website.
U.S. law enforcement agents claim in court documents that the White Rock chapter of the Hells Angels supplied marijuana and muscle to the multimillion-dollar smuggling ring.
The documents say that Jones was observed by U.S. agents meeting a key member of the drug ring in Las Vegas in February 2011.
And the documents say that U.S. members of the gang were caught on wiretap in April 2011 trying to get guns, baseball bats and pepper spray for the B.C. bikers so they could go after an associate believed to have stolen 106 kilograms of cocaine.
In fact, the coke had been seized by police.
“I believe that cocaine was destined for Canada and for the Hells Angels, possibly Trevor Jones,” special agent Bryan Winger, of Homeland Security, said in one sworn affidavit.
The investigation began in early 2010 when U.S. Homeland Security came across three separate drug cases that all linked back to Washington resident Jacob Stuart.
“In recent years, Stuart began getting Canadian marijuana from a man called Red, who owns T-Barz in British Columbia,” Winger said in his affidavit. “Red is the nickname or code name for Trevor Jones ... According to Canadian law enforcement Trevor Jones is a Hells Angels member and/or associate.”
Winger further alleged that while Jones was not captured on wiretap during the investigation, U.S. authorities intercepted calls about Jones and his role in the drug ring.
And agents watched in Las Vegas as another accused in the case “was delivering money to Trevor Jones, which the Stuart drug trafficking organization owed for marijuana obtained from the Jones brothers,” Winger said.
Last month, three Americans and a Canadian who pleaded guilty to working for the smuggling operation were sentenced in U.S. District Court in Seattle.
Canadian Mario Joseph Fenianos, 39, was handed a 13-year term on March 30 for his role as the gang’s cocaine broker in L.A. The prosecution sentencing memo said Fenianos “has ties to both violent Canadian organized crime and the Mexican-based Sinaloa Drug Cartel.”
Canadian Michel Dubois, who worked with Fenianos in L.A., has also pleaded guilty but won’t be sentenced until July.
Washington resident Jacob Burdick, 34, got a 12-year sentence for directing the distribution of drugs and money. Californian Michael Murphy, 62, who flew B.C. bud and cash to distribution points across the U.S., got 12 years. His wife, Pamela Marie Murphy, 58, got 18 months for helping him count cash and launder it through an antiques business.
http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Hells+Angels+Liquor+board+
Trevor Jones has spoken on behalf of T-Barz at Surrey City Council meetings, according to public minutes.
U.S. court documents describe him as the owner of the strip club.
A B.C. government official confirmed to The Sun that “the province is reviewing the next steps associated with this particular licence.”
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said one of the factors the government uses to determine whether an individual is suitable to hold a liquor licence “is whether the licensee is involved in criminal activities, or is associated with someone who is.”
“Where information is obtained subsequent to the licence being granted that reveals issues of concern, the province may at any time initiate a review of the licensee to determine whether the licensee continues to be suitable to hold a liquor licence, and may take appropriate action, up to and including cancelling the licence,” the official said.
T-Barz also holds a City of Surrey business licence, which is up for renewal on April 30.
Surrey Mayor Dianne Watts said businesses licences are granted after applicants meet criteria under the Liquor Control Act.
Jones did not return phone and email messages left at his home and two businesses.
T-Barz is not the only B.C. business linked to Jones. He and his Hells Angel twin started Dank Energy Drinks in 2009. They boast on their website that the hemp-infused beverage is “a new, healthy lifestyle choice for the energy drink market.”
“Get a buzz without the fuzz,” the site says. Until recently, it featured a photo of two RCMP officers drinking Dank.
Randy ceased being a director of Dank in October 2010, according to corporate documents.
Trevor briefly ceased being a director on May 30, 2011 — just 19 days after he was indicted in the U.S. But he was reinstated as a Dank director on Sept. 16, 2011, the documents show.
Dank hosted a party on Oct. 14, 2009 at T-Barz with the band Swollen Members performing.
Canadian and U.S. officials would not comment this week on whether an extradition request has been made for Trevor Jones, who is listed as a fugitive on the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’s website.
U.S. law enforcement agents claim in court documents that the White Rock chapter of the Hells Angels supplied marijuana and muscle to the multimillion-dollar smuggling ring.
The documents say that Jones was observed by U.S. agents meeting a key member of the drug ring in Las Vegas in February 2011.
And the documents say that U.S. members of the gang were caught on wiretap in April 2011 trying to get guns, baseball bats and pepper spray for the B.C. bikers so they could go after an associate believed to have stolen 106 kilograms of cocaine.
In fact, the coke had been seized by police.
“I believe that cocaine was destined for Canada and for the Hells Angels, possibly Trevor Jones,” special agent Bryan Winger, of Homeland Security, said in one sworn affidavit.
The investigation began in early 2010 when U.S. Homeland Security came across three separate drug cases that all linked back to Washington resident Jacob Stuart.
“In recent years, Stuart began getting Canadian marijuana from a man called Red, who owns T-Barz in British Columbia,” Winger said in his affidavit. “Red is the nickname or code name for Trevor Jones ... According to Canadian law enforcement Trevor Jones is a Hells Angels member and/or associate.”
Winger further alleged that while Jones was not captured on wiretap during the investigation, U.S. authorities intercepted calls about Jones and his role in the drug ring.
And agents watched in Las Vegas as another accused in the case “was delivering money to Trevor Jones, which the Stuart drug trafficking organization owed for marijuana obtained from the Jones brothers,” Winger said.
Last month, three Americans and a Canadian who pleaded guilty to working for the smuggling operation were sentenced in U.S. District Court in Seattle.
Canadian Mario Joseph Fenianos, 39, was handed a 13-year term on March 30 for his role as the gang’s cocaine broker in L.A. The prosecution sentencing memo said Fenianos “has ties to both violent Canadian organized crime and the Mexican-based Sinaloa Drug Cartel.”
Canadian Michel Dubois, who worked with Fenianos in L.A., has also pleaded guilty but won’t be sentenced until July.
Washington resident Jacob Burdick, 34, got a 12-year sentence for directing the distribution of drugs and money. Californian Michael Murphy, 62, who flew B.C. bud and cash to distribution points across the U.S., got 12 years. His wife, Pamela Marie Murphy, 58, got 18 months for helping him count cash and launder it through an antiques business.
http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Hells+Angels+Liquor+board+
probes+strip+club+licence+links+drug+case/6423519/story.html
