BUSTED: UNRAVELLING A GLOBAL DRUG RING

Operation Paragon was the 14-month investigation that spanned the
globe and led to Wednesday's revelations. B.C.'s Integrated Gang Task
Force worked with other forces on the project, and police expect more
than 100 people to be arrested and charged worldwide. The
allegations, which have not been proven in court, are illustrated below

Vancouver Sun Police say a Vancouver crime ring -- "extensively
controlled" by Yong Long Ye -- ran a multi-national drug network
based in this area and involving several other crime groups.

A wholesale distribution network, operating both locally and within
the Pacific Rim, imported from Asia precursor chemicals for the
production of methamphetamine and ecstasy in clandestine labs in the
Lower Mainland, police say. Large sums of money were laundered.

A command and control system, using violence or threats, was
allegedly run from Vancouver over a large criminal enterprise. The
crime groups were composed of people from many cultural groups. To
avoid detection, the suspects used elaborate codes passed through
associates who spoke English, Cantonese, Mandarin, Punjabi, Hindi and
Vietnamese.

Ye lived on Deering Island (pictured right) in Vancouver's affluent
Southlands area. Homes in a number of other city areas were also
targeted by police.

Seventeen Lower Mainland men face drugs and weapons charges, while
houses and condos worth $6 million, most of them in Vancouver, were seized.

LOS ANGELES - TORONTO

Ring imports thousands of kilograms of cocaine from crime groups in
the Los Angeles area, sending it by truck to Vancouver and the
Greater Toronto area in a distribution network controlled by Ye.

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency co-operated with Canadian police,
identifying organized crime gang members and seizing cocaine and weapons.

Couriers from Toronto transport money back to Vancouver on commercial
flights. About $4.6 million moves in 3 months, in batches of $250,000
up to three times a week.

AUSTRALIA, NEW ZEALAND, TAIWAN AND JAPAN

The group operated a wholesale distribution network both locally and
within the Pacific Rim. The Vancouver crime ring built boxes and
suitcases with hidden compartments to avoid customs detection. They
were lined with large quantities of illegal drugs and carried by
couriers or shipped in commercial containers to associated criminal groups.

CHINA

Cash from Australia, New Zealand, Taiwan and Japan heads to China
where the profits are passed through a complicated network of bank
accounts back to Vancouver.