B.C.'s anti-gang unit has confirmed that four Canadians arrested in northwest Spain for drug smuggling are members or associates of the Mission and Haney chapters of the Hells Angels.
Full-patch members Jason Cyrus Arkinstall and Chad John Wilson and associates Scott Smitna and Michael Dryborough were arrested near Pontevedra by Spain's National Police, in collaboration with U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, France's tax authority and Europol.
Spanish police alleged the men were involved in smuggling 500 kilograms of cocaine into the country.
A statement from the national police said the investigation began when the authorities received information about a group of Canadian Hells Angels who allegedly planned to receive a shipment of cocaine from Colombia that would arrive on the Galician coast by sailboat.
On July 30 police began surveillance of the operation. They tracked three of the men to Madrid and then to Galicia in August, allegedly to finalize the details of the transaction.
The investigation culminated with the arrest of the four accused after the cocaine was discovered in two vans believed to be headed to warehouses where the drugs would be stored to await distribution.
The drugs and vans were seized, along with an SUV, a motorhome, four mobile phones and two encrypted smartphones.
In a separate operation, police arrested two other suspects whose nationality was not disclosed but who were "responsible for the delivery of the drug" to Spain, the statement said.
B.C. Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit spokesman Sgt. Lindsey Houghton said his unit, the RCMP and other police have been contacted by the Spanish authorities for information about the accused.
"Arkinstall and Wilson are very well known to the police in both the U.S. and Canada for lengthy interactions with the law and various ranges of violence," Houghton said.
Houghton said he had not heard of Smitna or Dryborough prior to their arrests.
In August 2006, Wilson — who was then a member of the Dago Chapter of the Hells Angels in San Diego — and another man were arrested after a shooting at Legion Lake Resort in Custer State Park, where the members of the Outlaws motorcycle group gathered for the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally.
Wilson was charged with a number of offences, including five counts of attempted first-degree murder, conspiracy and commission of a felony while armed.
According to U.S. court documents Wilson pleaded guilty in April 2009 to a charge of being a non-immigrant alien in possession of firearms — three handguns and two rifles — and was sentenced to two years in prison.
In 2011, Arkinstall was acquitted of obstruction, assaulting a police officer and uttering threats during an incident involving Calgary police in 2008. The judge determined that Arkinstall was "physically abused" by police during the arrest.
Three years ago Arkinstall, who has a lengthy criminal history, successfully challenged the constitutionality of a law that allowed city electrical inspectors, fire inspectors and police to enter homes to search for marijuana grow operations without warrants. The B.C. Court of Appeal ruled that it violated the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
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