RCMP arrest 3 BC residents, alleged associate linked to Japanese Yakuza – BC

Police in the Lower Mainland, British Columbia, said an investigation into an international drug trafficking ring led to charges against three residents and an alleged associate in Japan, which is linked to the Yakuza crime syndicate.

A statement from the RCMP’s Federal Serious and Organized Crime team says the investigation began in August 2019, when the Canada Border Services Agency intercepted a 12-kilogram shipment of methamphetamine destined for Japan.

RCMP say investigators have identified the main Canadian-based suspects as three residents of Richmond, British Columbia, south of Vancouver, and confirmed their alleged associate in Japan had ties to the transnational organized crime syndicate. Yakuza.

They say the British Columbia-based group then shipped an additional seven kilogram load of methamphetamine to a second alleged associate in Tokyo.

RCMP say officers executed a search warrant in June 2020 at a Richmond home, where they seized various drugs, including heroin and fentanyl, along with $100,000 in US and Canadian cash, a weapon firearms and two Tasers.

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They say the Japanese Yakuza-linked suspect was arrested by that country’s police and charged with drug importation offences, while the second alleged associate was arrested after attempting to flee through Tokyo’s Haneda Airport .

The three Richmond residents have been charged with multiple counts of drug offenses, in addition to numerous firearms offences, according to the RCMP.

Photos included in the RCMP press release show that the British Columbia-based group allegedly used large containers of protein powder to ship the methamphetamine to Japan.