The Wolfpack Alliance is a Canadian organized crime group that has been involved in various criminal activities such as drug trafficking, money laundering, and murder.
Founded in 2010, the group emerged primarily from the Lower Mainland of British Columbia (BC), with leaders coming from prominent gangs including the Hells Angels, Red Scorpions, and Independent Soldiers.
The Wolfpack was not a singular gang but rather a loose alliance of several criminal organizations united by mutual interests in drug distribution and territory control.
Origins and Leadership
Image: Left: One of the Wolfpack gang founders, Larry Amero, also of the Hells Angels is pictured with the late Randy Naicker (right) who founded the Independent Soldiers. Naicker was shot to death in 2012 in Port Moody. Amero was arrested and charged in relation to 2012 murder plots of Sandip Duhre and Sukhveer Dhak. (Vancouver Sun)
The Wolfpack Alliance was created in 2010 by Larry Amero, a member of the Hells Angels, as a "side project," with the collaboration of figures such as Jonathan Bacon of the Red Scorpions, and James Riach and Randy Naicker from the Independent Soldiers.
The alliance's primary role was to distribute cocaine from the Sinaloa Cartel, the notorious Mexican drug syndicate led by Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán.
The Wolfpack's structure was decentralized, involving leaders in different provinces such as BC, Ontario, and Montreal. While the group operated across Canada, it also established ties with international criminals, notably the Rizzuto family in Montreal and the Sinaloa Cartel in Mexico.
Members of the group communicated through encrypted texts and were involved in large-scale drug smuggling, particularly cocaine, with a reported 400 kilograms smuggled monthly into Montreal by 2012.
Key Members
Prominent members of the Wolfpack include:
Larry Amero: A high-ranking Hells Angels member and one of the founders of the Wolfpack.
Jonathan Bacon: Leader of the Red Scorpions gang and one of the founding members.
James Riach and Randy Naicker: Members of the Independent Soldiers who played major roles in the early expansion of the Wolfpack.
Johnny Raposo and Martino Caputo: Notable members involved in cocaine trafficking and internal power struggles.
Nick Nero: A notorious drug smuggler connected to the Niagara operation and the Wolfpack's expansion in Ontario.
Expansion & Criminal Activities
The group quickly expanded its operations beyond Vancouver, with significant involvement in Ontario, Montreal, and Niagara Falls. They acted as intermediaries for the Sinaloa Cartel, smuggling large quantities of cocaine through ports and hidden compartments in trucks.
The Wolfpack became notorious for its international operations, utilizing both old-school methods and modern encrypted communications to further their activities.
One of the major operations involved smuggling cocaine into Montreal, a city critical for Canadian organized crime due to its access to international trade routes.
The West End Gang in Montreal and the Rizzuto family in Montreal were aligned with the Wolfpack, leveraging their influence to expand smuggling operations.
The Gang War
The Wolfpack Alliance was heavily involved in a long-running gang war that started in 2010 following the murder of Gurmit Singh Dhak, a leader of the Dhak-Duhre gang.
This event escalated violence across BC, culminating in multiple killings, including the murder of Jonathan Bacon in 2011. The conflict drew in various gangs, including the United Nations gang, Red Scorpions, and the Siderno Group from Ontario.
Key incidents in this war included several high-profile killings and attempts on the lives of Wolfpack members, such as Sukh Dhak and Johnny Raposo, as well as retaliatory strikes.
Notably, in 2012, Jonathan Bacon was killed in a drive-by shooting in Kelowna, which further intensified the violence.
The Murder of Johnny Raposo
Image: John Raposo, 35, shot dead on the patio of the Sicilian Sidewalk Cafe on June 18, 2022 in Toronto. (CBC)
Johnny Raposo, a high-ranking member of the Wolfpack Alliance, was murdered on June 18, 2012, at the Sicilian Sidewalk Café in Toronto. The murder stemmed from a personal and business dispute involving Martino Caputo, a member of the Rizzuto family, and Nick Nero, a protégé of Caputo.
Raposo, who had a close professional relationship with Caputo, became the target after Caputo became jealous of Raposo’s romantic involvement with Tamara Fletcher, the identical twin sister of Tawnya Fletcher, who was engaged to Nick Nero.
Caputo, enraged by Raposo’s affair with Tamara, plotted to have him killed to remove him from the equation and regain control of the situation.
Nick Nero, who harbored deep resentment toward Raposo, was tasked with carrying out the murder. Caputo also enlisted Rabih Alkhalil, who arranged for Dean Wiwchar, a hitman, to carry out the assassination.
On June 18, 2012, Raposo was sitting in the Sicilian Sidewalk Café in Toronto’s Little Italy, watching the Euro Cup match between Ireland and Italy. Wiwchar, dressed as a construction worker to blend in, approached Raposo from behind and shot him four times in the head and once in the neck, instantly killing him.
Image: Sicilian Sidewalk Cafe were John Romero, 35, was shot dead.
The murder was motivated by a mix of jealousy, betrayal, and a desire for control over the cocaine trafficking operations that Raposo, Caputo, and others were involved in.
Raposo had been part of a joint venture with the Sinaloa Cartel to bring in large shipments of cocaine, and his share of the profits was substantial. Caputo and his associates feared losing their share if Raposo continued to challenge the power dynamics within their group.
After the murder, Raposo's $500,000 cash stash was stolen, and the $5 million cocaine shipment he was supposed to help distribute was lost, enraging the Sinaloa Cartel, which subsequently issued threats of retribution.
This murder escalated the violence within the Wolfpack Alliance, and it led to the eventual convictions of key figures involved in Raposo’s killing, including Caputo, Alkhalil, Nero, and Wiwchar. The murder of Johnny Raposo remains one of the most brutal and significant acts of violence within Canadian organized crime in the 2010s.
The Montreal and Niagara Operations
The Montreal operation played a crucial role in the Wolfpack's expansion, leveraging the city's strategic location and corrupt trucking industry to facilitate large-scale cocaine imports, particularly from Mexico and Peru.
Montreal’s access to major highways and its proximity to New York City made it an ideal hub for drug distribution across Canada. The Wolfpack utilized corrupt trucking operations to move large quantities of cocaine through bonded trucking companies, ensuring a steady flow of shipments into the country.
The Niagara operation, led by Nicola “Nick” Nero, was another vital component of the Wolfpack’s drug smuggling network, responsible for moving massive amounts of cocaine via trucks and boats from the United States into Canada.
Nero, described by a high school classmate as “dumb as a bag of hair,” quickly rose to prominence in the organization despite his reckless and volatile nature. He partnered closely with Martino Caputo, a Toronto-based associate of the Rizzuto crime family, further cementing his influence in the region.
Authorities suspected that Nero had no intention of following his parole conditions, as he repeatedly violated them, triggering a police investigation called Project Ink.
This probe led to a major bust in February 2012, when authorities seized 110 kilograms of cocaine worth $30 million from a warehouse in St. Catharines, a location directly linked to Nero.
Despite this, Nero continued to expand his operation, smuggling an average of 400 kilograms of cocaine per week into the Niagara Peninsula through a combination of truck routes, shipping networks, and hidden compartments in cargo vessels.
Nero’s ambitions extended far beyond Canada. In a May 2012 text message to Alfonso “Al” Inclima, a car dealer-turned-drug trafficker, Nero discussed how corrupt Air Canada personnel could be used to smuggle cocaine shipments worth $750,000 CAD per week into Toronto.
When Inclima suggested expanding into Argentina, Nero became furious, berating him via text: “Bro!!! U [you] are supposed to resolve things and get answers and confirm dates. I’m more confused now!!!!!”
Later that day, Nero proposed expanding operations into Europe, specifically the United Kingdom, where he calculated that the profit margin on cocaine sales could be double that of Toronto. He messaged Inclima: “Do they have British Airways[?] We get 4000 pds [pounds] in UK per.”
Nero was also eyeing Shanghai as a potential market, directing Inclima to seek out corrupt aircrews willing to transport cocaine into China.
Meanwhile, he was in talks with Mohammed Reza Amin Torabi, a Vancouver-based bodybuilder and two-time Mr. Canada champion, about using the Port of Vancouver for cocaine shipments. Their agreement specified that 25% of the profits would go to Torabi in exchange for his role in logistics.
Despite his growing power, Nero’s erratic decision-making and reckless expansion plans ultimately brought unwanted attention from both law enforcement and his cartel suppliers, leading to increasing tensions within the Wolfpack.
His botched deals, failed security measures, and arrogance in communications would soon contribute to the group’s downfall.
Downfall and Law Enforcement Efforts
The Sinaloa Cartel eventually sidelined the Wolfpack, taking over the smuggling routes and bypassing the group in favor of direct distribution. This shift marked the beginning of the Wolfpack's decline in the early 2010s.
However, law enforcement agencies in Canada and Mexico continued their pursuit of the group's leaders, culminating in numerous arrests and convictions.
Several high-ranking members of the Wolfpack Alliance, including Larry Amero, Martino Caputo, and Rabih Alkhalil, were arrested and charged for their roles in serious organized crime activities, including murder, drug trafficking (particularly cocaine), and money laundering.
Specifically, they were involved in distributing large quantities of cocaine from the Sinaloa Cartel and laundering the proceeds through various methods, including investments in legitimate businesses and smuggling operations.
The Project Loquace operation in 2012 led to the arrest of multiple Wolfpack members in Montreal as law enforcement cracked down on their extensive network. However, some significant figures, like Frédéric Lavoie and Timoleaon Psiharis, managed to escape arrest.
Lavoie, who was deeply involved in the smuggling and drug distribution network, later faced a violent death in Colombia in 2014, where he was dismembered and murdered by unknown assailants, likely as part of a message from the Sinaloa Cartel.
Psiharis, another high-ranking member, was murdered in Greece in 2014 under similarly violent circumstances, believed to be in retaliation for his role in the Wolfpack’s operations and his connection to sensitive criminal activities.
Continued Influence and Current Operations
Despite being significantly weakened by law enforcement, the Wolfpack Alliance's influence has not disappeared. As of 2023, law enforcement still recognizes the group as a significant force in Canada's criminal underworld, especially in areas like Vancouver's Downtown Eastside, where drug trafficking remains rampant.
Final Thoughts: The Wolfpack Alliance
The Wolfpack Alliance's rise and fall reflect the changing nature of organized crime in Canada. If you want to learn more, have a read of this book author Peter Edwards, "The Wolfpack: The Millennial Mobsters Who Brought Chaos and the Cartels to the Canadian Underworld."
Stay safe!