Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Car dealer’s son, another employee arrested in massive drug-smuggling ring

This one has it all: Drugs, money and even the Hell’s Angels

The son of a Canadian Hyundai dealer and another dealership manager were arrested in Washington State following a three-year investigation into their distribution of marijuana and cocaine, according to a report in the Vancouver Province.

Devron Quast, Robert Shannon and seven others were indicted for conspiracy to distribute cocaine and marijuana.

The arrest took place when Messrs’ Quast and Shannon met with an undercover police officer for a drug deal, according to the indictment. The same day, law enforcement officers seized $50,000 and hundreds of pounds of marijuana that the ring was trying to get across the border into the U.S.



Devron Quast is reportedly the general manager of Quast Hyundai and the son of the dealership’s owner. Robert Shannon is a sales manager at the store.

The investigation resulted in the seizure of more than 590 kilograms of cocaine, more than 3,000 kilos of marijuana and about $3.5 million in cash.

According to the indictment, Mr. Quast oversaw the day-to-day drug transportation and provided insurance to Canadian marijuana suppliers. He agreed to pay suppliers $425 per pound of marijuana if a load was lost for any reason.

Mr. Shannon was in charge of distributing the drugs on behalf of the Hell’s Angels motorcycle gang and others.



The narcotics were smuggled across the border in hollowed-out logs on trucks, fake walls of cargo containers and vehicles, within loads of commercial lumber, inside PVC pipes and in the interior of a propane tanker.

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