VANCOUVER DRUG DEALER GETS 10 YEARS IN U.S.

Victor Faruq Admitted In California Court To Distributing Ecstasy,
Money Laundering

A Vancouver man linked to the Independent Soldiers gang was sentenced
Tuesday to 10 years in a U.S. prison after pleading guilty in
Sacramento to distributing ecstasy and money laundering.

Victor Faruq, 32, admitted that between January and April 2007, he
supplied several Sacramento-area drug dealers with large quantities
of the chemical party drug.

When his apartment in Elk Grove, Calif., was searched on April 5,
2007, detectives found about 300 ecstasy pills, more than $68,000 US
and a bulletproof vest with the letters "Police" on it, according to
documents filed by the U.S. attorney.

Police also found a key to a nearby residence where he stored drugs.
There, investigators found 10,000 ecstasy pills, which Faruq later
admitted also belonged to him.

Faruq confessed he used drug money to buy a 2003 Mercedes Benz S55
AMG, then registered it in the name of a friend to conceal that drug
money had paid for it. He also laundered his drug profits by buying
an expensive watch in an "off the books" transaction with a jeweller,
court documents said.

U.S. District Judge John A. Mendez said the severity of the federal
sentence for trafficking MDMA reflected Faruq's large-scale
distribution of ecstasy and its impact on the most vulnerable members
of the community because many youths are attracted to the drug.

Faruq is just the latest in a series of Canadian drug traffickers
facing lengthy sentences in the U.S.

Supt. Dan Malo, who heads the B.C. Integrated Gang Task Force, said
the fact the Independent Soldiers had their own operator in
California shows the level of networking between B.C.-based gangs and
their international counterparts.

"Organized crime has to be able to move its product for sale . . . .
They have to be able to get it across the border," Malo pointed out.

Already the Soldiers, originally a south Vancouver gang that began
using the IS logo in 2004, have made their way to other Canadian
cities, he said.

"It doesn't surprise me that they are in California .... that would
only make sense," he said. "It would give them an advantage right now."

The judge also cited Faruq's lack of employment and his ties to the
Soldiers as factors warranting a stiff sentence.

Faruq, a Canadian citizen who was illegally in the U.S., will be
deported after his sentence.

He was acquitted in Vancouver Provincial Court in 2003 of driving
while prohibited and charged in 2004 with uttering threats and
criminal harassment, but was never arrested on those counts. A
warrant was issued for his arrest in 2004.