Wolfpack-linked drug trafficking operation delivered $50K in fentanyl per day, B.C. court hears

A statue of Themis, Goddess of Justice, in the B.C. Supreme Court building in downtown Vancouver on June 26, 2024 (Zak Vescera / Investigative Journalism Foundation and CTV News)

Two B.C. men have been sentenced for their roles in a drug trafficking conspiracy, with the judge saying they pursued the criminal enterprise with “enthusiasm, high energy, recklessness, and with a single-minded goal of profit.”

Hemen Saed and Diego Saed, who are cousins, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy and one count of drug trafficking and were sentenced to nine years in prison and six-and-a-half years in prison, respectively, last month.

The pair were among six men B.C.’s anti-gang unit charged in 2022, saying the trafficking operation was linked to a notorious gang.

“The Wolfpack has been at the center of violence and drug trafficking for over two decades and we will continue to aggressively pursue them,” Asst. Comm. Manny Mann, with the BC Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit wrote in a news release at the time.

Read more: Alleged ‘Wolfpack-aligned drug traffickers’ charged after B.C. anti-gang unit probe

Justice E. David Crossin’s sentencing decision in the case was posted online Tuesday, saying the evidence showed the trafficking operation distributed $50,000 worth of fentanyl daily in and around Vancouver.

Fentanyl – which Crossin described as a “scourge” – causes the vast majority of overdose deaths in the province, which has lost more than 15,000 people to illicit drug toxicity since a public health emergency was declared in 2016.

“It wreaks havoc on the most vulnerable of our citizens. They are the desperate, the disillusioned and the disenfranchised; they who live on the outskirts of hope and seek respite through these drugs from the oppression that exists in their marginalized world. They are the immediate victims of this activity,” he wrote.

“The fact is, it must be concluded, the offenders knowingly and with calculation, in the course of their trafficking activities, were delivering a death warrant to certain consumers.”

The investigation began in the summer of 2020, and the men were arrested in May of 2021 after what the judge described as a “complex and challenging” operation.

Police doing surveillance on the group tracked them to a number of luxury Vancouver condos that were being used as rotating “stash sites” where drugs would be mixed, weighed and packaged. The suites were where the traffickers would co-ordinate deliveries, count money and discuss the “activities of the organization,” according to the decision.

“Highly incriminating” audio and video evidence of what went on inside the units was captured by police, who gained authorization to install surveillance devices in two of the stash sites, the decision said.

The participants in the conspiracy were also observed to be engaged in “activity intended to disrupt and frustrate the prospect of discovery,” such as moving the stash sites constantly, leasing them under fake names, and driving to and from deliveries using “circuitous routes,” according to the decision.

The “directing mind” of the organization, the judge said, was Hemen Saed’s brother Howjeen – who assumed the role after the murder of the previous leader. Howjeen was sentenced to 10 years in prison in separate court proceedings.

Hemen also acted as an “authority figure” in the organization and – like his brother – lived a life “built on profit,” the judge said.

“The search of Hemen’s apartment turned up approximately $30,000 in cash, as well as Gucci purses. Mr. Hemen Saed’s vehicles of choice were a Mercedes and Infiniti FX,” Crossin wrote.

“He was not an employee. He was in management.”

Diego Saed, on the other hand, was found by the court to be a “devoted and dependable” part of the organization, but also someone who “took, rather than gave, direction.”

Hemen’s lawyer was asking for a sentence of seven years in prison, while Diego’s was asking for a sentence of four years – with counsel for both men emphasizing that they were first-time offenders in their 20s as well as their guilty pleas, remorse, and prospects for rehabilitation.

The judge considered these factors, but found more prison time was warranted for each of the men.

“The moral culpability of the offenders in this case cannot be understated. The need for deterrence and denunciation cannot be overstated,” Crossin wrote.

Both men will also be banned from possessing weapons for 10 years and required to provide a DNA sample.