COPS CRACK GLOBAL DRUG-TRADE RING

B.C. Man Accused of Heading Biggest Criminal Conspiracy in Province's History

Fifteen years ago, Yong Long "Sam" Ye was a small-time thug operating
on the fringes of Vancouver's criminal underworld.

Today he stands accused of heading the biggest criminal conspiracy in
B.C. history -- a $168-million enterprise with tentacles reaching
into eight countries on three continents involving tonnes of drugs.

"He was a bit player who rose through the ranks," a confidential RCMP
source told The Province.

"In the old days he also provided muscle."

Ye, 40, got on the police radar after he was charged with two counts
each of extortion and trafficking in 2003. The charges were stayed.

He now resides in a Vancouver jail, facing 16 counts, including
conspiracy, trafficking and money laundering.

Ye used Vancouver's red-hot real-estate market to finance the drug
shipments, said the source.

Nine luxury homes worth $6 million that were bought by Ye were seized
under proceeds-of-crime

legislation as part of Project E-Paragon, police said yesterday at a
news conference at the Delta headquarters of the Combined Forces
Special Enforcement Unit.

Some of the properties were in Ye's wife's name and in the names of
certain nominees, said the source, adding Ye would renovate the homes
and secure large mortgages on them to finance myriad drug shipments.

Cocaine was trucked from Los Angeles to Toronto, methamphetamines
went from Vancouver to Australia in specially constructed suitcases
and boxes, and heroin came into Canada from India and Pakistan. Money
was funnelled back to Vancouver through 38 bank accounts in China
controlled by Ye, said police.

Cash was brought from Toronto to Ye's Vancouver base of operations at
a rate of $250,000 a week by couriers using commercial flights --
$4.6 million since July 6 -- said police.

"The criminal element should take note the police aren't confined to
borders," Supt. Marianne Ryan, CFSEU chief, told the news conference.

"We have chopped the head off the snake," added Insp. Dean Robinson
of the Vancouver Police Department. "This will have a huge impact on
the drug trade in the Lower Mainland."

In the last week 36 people have been charged, and another 70 or so
will face charges in the coming months, police said. Most of the
court proceedings will go ahead in Vancouver and Toronto.

The suspects spoke six languages and roughly 200,000 phone calls were
intercepted.

Six teams of police officers conducted raids in B.C.

More than 200 officers from the RCMP, the Organized Crime Agency of
B.C. and 10 municipal police forces worked on the massive
investigation, which began in October 2006 with a discovery by U.S.
Drug Enforcement Administration agents in L.A.

Various different crime groups were involved, said CFSEU Insp. Pat Fogarty.

"It's a dirty, competitive business," he said. Lives were at stake if
individuals didn't move the contraband they acquired, which Fogarty
called "leveraged product."

"It's not any particular ethnic group at all," said Supt. John Robin
of B.C.'s Integrated Gang Task Force.

"There is a direct link between organized crime, the narcotics
smuggling, a huge amount of marijuana coming out of British Columbia
and the violence on our streets."

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SEIZURES

640 kilograms of cocaine;

111 kg of methamphetamines and 83 kilos of MDMA;

26 units of heroin;

1,202 kg of ephedrine or MDP2P;

7,832 pounds of marijuana bud;

Charges anticipated for more than 100 people internationally;

Over $2,100,000 cash seized from various locations;

17 guns (mostly handguns, some prohibited weapons);

Nine real-estate properties worth $6,000,000;

Six high-end vehicles worth $300,000;

Seizures in eight countries (Canada, U.S., Japan, Australia, New
Zealand, Taiwan, China, India)