Steven Phan sentenced to three years

Steven Phan was sentenced to three years in prison after pleading guilty in Richmond provincial court to possession for the purposes of exporting a controlled substance.
Sgt. Bill Whalen, of the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit, explained that Phan was nabbed while planning to export 3.5 kilograms of cocaine to Australia.
Phan was arrested by the Canada Border Services Agency at the Vancouver International Airport as he was heading out of the country. Phan's name was not among those released by police at the time of the major press conference in December in which police displayed tightly-wrapped bricks of cash, baggies of heroin and containers of precursor chemicals used to make methamphetamine. Phan was arrested after the December takedown, Whalen said. Some 100 people were arrested in several countries in connection with this investigation. It was dubbed E-Paragon and described as one of the most complex investigations of its kind in B.C. history and which resulted in a record-setting seizure. The investigation reached the shores of Australia, Japan, New Zealand, Taiwan, India, China and the U.S., and led to the seizure of $3 million in cash, 600 kilos of cocaine, 7,800 pounds of marijuana and more than $6 million in real estate. Six Richmond residents were arrested at five local properties: Jason Wang at 5731 Walton Rd., Darren Zhu and George Hsieh at 1505-6119 Cooney Rd., Guang An at 606-5068 Kwantlen St., Guo Liao at 1202-5068 Kwantlen St. and Kevin Mah at 809-5811 No. 3 Rd. Vancouver Police Insp. Dean Robinson said in December that this investigation was the largest in his department's history.
"We've chopped the head off the snake," he said. The organized crime group brought large quantities of cocaine into Canada from Los Angeles via truck, then packed it in hidden compartments in suitcases and boxes for smuggling overseas. The profits were laundered through dozens of bank accounts. The drug smuggling ring was run out of Vancouver and involved individuals from numerous ethnic groups.

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