WARRANTS ISSUED FOR B.C. MEN ACCUSED OF DRUG SMUGGLING

Another group of suspected B.C. drug smugglers who police allege
worked on behalf of the Hells Angels has been indicted in Washington
state.

U.S. warrants were issued Wednesday for Dustin Meehan, Justin Harris,
Ronald Lochbaum and Gordy Dahms, alleging they transported major
shipments of marijuana across the border for several years using
various methods to conceal the illicit loads.

The four are alleged to have worked with Rob Shannon, Devron Quast,
Jody York and others who have already pleaded guilty in Seattle.

Shannon was earlier handed a 20-year sentence, while others got lesser
terms. York and six others who were charged last October have pleaded
guilty but are yet to be sentenced.

The latest indictment says the four collaborated in a B.C.-based
organization that took dozens of loads of marijuana from Canada to the
U.S. on behalf of clients who paid them for successfully transporting
and delivering it.

The drug gang concealed their pot in truckloads of bark, PVC sewer
pipes, inside false walls, floors and ceilings of refrigerated
semi-trailers, cargo containers and campers.

"The members of the conspiracy agreed that whoever devised a specific
smuggling method would be paid a royalty every time that method
succeeded," the indictment says.

The new defendants' main role was to get clients for the drug
distribution, the U.S. Attorney alleges in court documents.
Specifically, the indictment says Harris came up with the scheme to
hide pot shipments in the false walls of semis and Dahms modified the
vehicles and loaded the marijuana in different compartments.

Others in the gang negotiated the contracts and created fictitious
companies and false paperwork.

The gang also is alleged to have "regularly smuggled currency from
Canada to the United States to pay the members of the organization who
were based in the United States."

Lochbaum also was charged on the indictment unsealed last October when
York, Skeeter Russell and several others entered guilty pleas for
their roles in the drug scheme.

They are scheduled to be sentenced March 25.

The four new accused are known to police in B.C. Meehan was identified
by the Gang Task Force in May 2009 as one of three targets in a
murderfor-hire plot foiled by police. Dahms has a conviction for
possession of stolen property.

Police describe both Lochbaum and Harris as Hells Angels
associates.

Their charges flow from a massive U.S. investigation into a
cross-border smuggling ring headed by Shannon.

So far, more than 20 B.C. men have been charged, 12 have pleaded
guilty and a number of Americans have been prosecuted for their role
in the drug ring.