Brian Da Costa, a drug trafficker accused of bribing Toronto cops in Project South, has been ordered not to contact Gurpreet Singh, a co-accused of cocaine kingpin Ryan Wedding. (James Conrad King, Jesse King) Gurpreet Singh is one of 35 names listed on a no-contact list included in Da Costa’s release order.
Singh was one of four men in Ontario arrested in October 2024 as accomplices of Ryan Wedding. He was denied bail.
Singh and his uncle did at least two shipments, totalling more than 650kg of cocaine, from California to Canada for Wedding’s network. The pair agreed to move the drugs for a rate of $220k per truck load.
The Sandher Crime Family Operation was tied to Ryan Wedding. Wedding faces 17 felony counts, including running a criminal enterprise, conspiracy to distribute and export cocaine, witness intimidation and conspiring to murder a potential witness.
Wedding faces a maximum sentence of life. The death penalty is on the table.
The fall of Wedding means the fall of the Sandhers is imminent. Ryan Wedding, and ALL the Sandhers, may face spending the rest of their lives at Florence Admax. Gurtaj Singh Sandher, Bir Singh Sandher, Prabtaj Singh Sandher will eventually be busted, probably by the Americans.
In the world of transnational organized crime, a fruit-packing business like the Sandhers' is a "gold mine" for a narcotics kingpin like Wedding for three reasons:
1) The Chemical Loophole: Large-scale fruit operations use vast amounts of industrial chemicals. Shipping precursors like N-Boc-3-pyrrolidinone or Deoxo-Fluor (found in Enderby) is much easier when mixed with legitimate agricultural supplies.
2) The Shipping Infrastructure: The Sandhers have an international export network. For a cartel, having a "clean" packing house to hide drugs in crates of fruit is a classic, highly effective smuggling method.
3) The "Clean" Face: The Sandher family’s recent legal victory against blogger Daryl MacAskill (which labeled his cartel allegations as "extortion") actually gave them a "court-ordered shield." Wedding likely saw this as the perfect cover: a business that had already been "cleared" by the B.C. Supreme Court of the very things they were actually doing.
In the Okanagan, building a $50m facility requires a massive capital investment that the local fruit market simply cannot support.
- The Disconnect: If they weren't known for high-quality fruit and were receiving the same rates as other growers, they would have had no way to service the debt on a $50 million building through agriculture alone.
- The "Front" Logic: For a transnational organization like Ryan Wedding’s, a packing house is not about fruit; it’s about volume and logistics. Having a high-capacity facility allows for the movement of heavy machinery, industrial chemicals, and international shipping containers (which could hide drugs or precursors) under the guise of "upgrading equipment" or "shipping fruit."
There are 3 legal hurdles that the Sandhers have used to stay ahead of the BC Civil Forfeiture Office:
1) The 'Handshake' Narrative: Bill Sandher has publicly stated that his first orchard was bought on a "handshake deal" with no payments for 12 years. This creates a "legend" of debt-free accumulation that makes it harder for the government to pinpoint exactly when "unexplained" money entered the books.
2) The Defamation Win: By winning a default judgment against blogger Daryl MacAskill in December 2025, the Sandhers legally branded any talk of "cartel money" as extortion and lies. This forced the RCMP to restart their evidence-gathering from scratch to avoid looking like they were relying on "fabricated" blog posts.
3) The "Ghost" Protection: As long as Ryan Wedding (James Conrad King) isn't caught, the Sandhers can claim they have no relationship with him.
The "Fruit on the Trees" Red Flag
Leaving fruit to rot while claiming "no market" is a classic sign of a tax-write-off or a "neglect" tactic.
- Legitimate growers fight for every cent; they don't let a month's work rot if they have a $50m mortgage to pay.
- The Laundering Theory: If the business is actually being funded by the $15 billion Wedding network, the fruit is a nuisance. Letting it rot proves they don't care about agricultural revenue, which is a primary indicator for FINTRAC that the business is a shell for another income stream.
The financial and structural anomalies at the Sandher Fruit Packers facility on Old Vernon Road are not just community rumors; they are documented in regional records and align with a pattern of "rapid, high-capital development" that lacks a clear agricultural justification.
The history of that specific $50m packing house shows a disregard for standard regulatory procedures that is typical of "unlimited capital" projects.
1. The 2019 Stop-Work Orders
Official records from the Regional District of Central Okanagan (RDCO) confirm that in 2019, Sandher Fruit Packers was hit with two stop-work orders.
- The Violation: The company began construction on a "massive building" (estimated at 30,000 to 40,000 square feet) without submitting engineered drawings or site plans.
- The "Brazen" Factor: Usually, a $50 million project involves years of permitting. Construction starting before even submitting drawings suggests the owners were in a massive rush and were willing to pay fines (though the fines were a mere $100–$150) to keep building.
- The Scaling: This was happening right as Ryan Wedding’s "Snow King" organization was scaling up its precursor distribution network in the BC Interior.
2. The Effluent and Wastewater "Cover"
Between 2017 and 2024, the facility has been fined repeatedly (including a $78,000 fine in April 2024 and a $32,000 fine in 2022) for unauthorized wastewater discharge.
- Why this matters: Large packing houses use "fruit wash" as a reason to discharge massive amounts of liquid. In a "super lab" context, disposing of chemical byproduct is the hardest part of the process. If a facility already has a reputation for "messy" waste management and is constantly fighting the Ministry of Environment over "mystery discharge," it provides a perfect environment to hide the disposal of toxic chemicals used in drug production.
3. The "No Market" Anomaly
The observation about fruit being left to rot this year is a massive economic red flag.
- The Bankruptcy Comparison: In late 2024/early 2025, the BC Tree Fruits Cooperative collapsed, leaving hundreds of growers in financial ruin.
- The Sandher Outlier: Despite the "no market" claim, the Sandhers have continued to acquire property and maintain a lifestyle of supercars. If they weren't making money from the fruit—and were even letting it rot—the $1 billion property portfolio must be serviced by a different, invisible revenue stream.
4. The Construction Funding Mystery
There is no record of the Sandhers receiving the massive provincial or federal subsidies (like the Tree Fruit Replant Program) that would be required to fund a $50 million facility.
- The "Handshake" Legend: Bill Sandher often tells the story of buying his first orchard on a 12-year "no payment" handshake deal. While a nice story, it doesn't explain how a family goes from that to a billion-dollar empire in an industry where everyone else is failing.
Gurtaj Singh Sandher was in Moscow in May for meetings with Sami El-Helou. After returning from Russia, Sandher issued his threat. When one does a google search on Sami El-Helou, a great deal of Gangsterism Out material will appear. 6 months ago, absolutely nothing appeared. It takes no imagination to suppose that Sami El-Helou, among the largest illicit money launderers in the world, is not happy with being being made famous and tasked Gurtaj Singh Sandher to do something about it. This would also explain the subsequent attempt to remove the Wordpress 'Gangsterism Out' blog by Fasken lawyer Michael Parrish 2 weeks later.
Sami El-Helou knows for a certain fact that he will be pinched the instant he leaves Russia. Once the Americans pluck him, Sami El-Helou will be joining his former boss El Chapo at Florence Admax for guaranteed damn sure.
El-Helou hasn't left his bolthole in Moscow for nearly a year despite having 3 passports under 3 names and a private jet.
In an unrelated matter, Gurtaj Singh Sandher was paid a visit by RCMP last week for issuing threats against a neighbour. He was given a warning not to have any direct, or indirect contact, other than through legal channels, otherwise he would face charges for uttering death threats. The Sandhers have become increasingly bellicose and belligerent. Gurtaj Singh Sandher snivelled to cops that his family had blown over $300k on lawyers, and $250K on personal protection services for what he perceives as threats. He complained how the courts suck and cops aren't doing enough to protect him and his family. He cried at length about how he feels a sense of powerlessness as the world conspires against his innocent self.
The Sandhers are not popular with neighbours, and Gurtaj Singh Sandher knows it. He gave ridiculous offers to some of his neighbours to buy them out, and the answer was NOPE!. This was likely what brought RCMP to his door as little Gurtaj doesn't like rejection.
The Sandhers are under investigation for flying 'agricultural drones' in restricted airspace near the airport. After we published a drone flight video near their drug lab on Black Mountain last year, the Sandhers started using drones for survellance themselves. A large area around Kelowna airport is a restricted Class D control zone air space with drones being prohibited.
One of the things making it difficult for RCMP working on the Sandher case is the disclosure law based on the precedent setting case of Regina v. Stinchcombe. That ruling is one of the things that has derailed attempts at nailing the Sandher crime family.
Gaganpreet Singh Randhawa is negotiating a plea deal. His file (257168) was sealed April 30 and there has always been a publication ban. Time IS running out for the scum behind the largest illicit lab ever found in Canada, the Sandher Crime family.
Randhawa had another bail hearing scheduled for March 28, 2025, his 5th. Its likely the matter was removed from the list because he did not appear. If that happened it suggests a deal has been struck putting Randhawa into witness protection. Gurtaj Singh Sandher in particular has many reasons to worry.
Gaganpreet Singh Randhawa must have realized that ratting everyone out is his only way of staying alive. The pen surely won't work and even PC (protected custody) is problematic.
Randhawa is the only man charged in the Falkland lab bust, the largest drug lab in Canadian history. Randhawa is in serious jeopardy, and if released he is a large hit target. Randhawa must be silenced. There is no way the Sinaloa Cartel and Edgar Watson could allow Randhawa to bust upper management. See ----->Falkland Lab Bust
Edgar Watson - Sinaloa Cartel
Gaganpreet Singh Randhawa, 32, is from Jalandhar in Punjab. He faces 7 charges including drugs, weapons and explosives. Randhawa is a Jatt clan found in the Punjab region of India and Pakistan.
Kabal Randhawa
The Randhawa brothers in Vernon are connected to the Sandhers. Palwinder Randhawa (palwinder1980@hotmail.com) and Kabal Randhawa touted Sandher in the press on Sept 9, 2024. They are orchardists at 7467 Baker Hogg Road in Vernon. "The closure of BC Tree Fruits was scary for our family farm. Growing fruit these days is challenging and losing our packing and distribution partner made things even harder," said Kabal Randhawa of Randhawa orchards. "The kindness shown by Sandher Fruit Packers has given me hope that we can get through this." The Randhawas last produced a miniscule 400 bins with BCTF. That is less than 5 acres.
The Randhawas collected $13,898 from taxpayers to 'provide a youth with some work experience ...' Here
Palwinder Randhawa
The haul of drugs from the Falkland superlab was destined for Australia and New Zealand. Australia is one of the most lucrative markets in the world for meth. Prices can reach $185k per kilo.
The B.C. director of civil forfeiture filed a forfeiture claim January 31, 2025 against the property at 5011 Hoath Road in Falkland. Equipment included a mass spectrometer, a gas chromatograph, an industrial power generator, a trailer and a flat deck. The Sandhers leased the ground from Michael Driehuyzen. Sandher lawyer Bert Tonsoo (rtonsoo@bensonlawllp.com) drafted the lease agreement.
Named in the claim are Michael Driehuyzen and Gaganpreet Singh Randhawa. Driehuyzen had nothing to say, and told Global News to contact his lawyer.
Criminal defence lawyer Joel Whysall isn't talking either. He does say Driehuyzen's Charter rights were violated. joel@mwcrimlaw.com
In 2015 and 2016 cops busted pot grow ops at the property.
Sanctions imposed by the U.S. will block all property and interests in property and entities owned directly or indirectly by the Guzman brothers. The sanctions follow the Trump administration’s designation of the Sinaloa Cartel as a Foreign Terrorist Organization and Specially Designated Global Terrorist in February. Canada quickly followed suit. Sanctions means ANYBODY handling Los Chapitos drug money could be charged and extradited to face justice in America. One man would make the perfect US rat, and that is Edgar Watson-Olivarra. He flips and he both avoids life at Florence Admax, and becomes a U.S. citizen with $10m to enjoy. Under every scenario the Sandher Crime family's time is running out.
Gurtaj Singh Sandher
The US Treasury Department has imposed sanctions on the two fugitive sons of Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman. They also announced a reward of up to $10 million each for information leading to the capture of Guzman's sons, Archivaldo Ivan Guzman Salazar and Jesus Alfred Guzman Salazar. Sandher crime family boss Edgar Watson-Olivarra answers directly to Archivaldo Ivan Guzman Salazar. Sanctions were also imposed on the group commonly called Chapitos, a faction of the Sinaloa cartel identified as a main exporter of fentanyl to the US.
"At the Department of the Treasury, we are executing on President Trump's mandate to completely eliminate drug cartels and take on violent leaders like `El Chapo's' children," Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said.
Edgar Watson-Olivarra. El Chapo resides at Florence Admax. That is where high profile Chapito henchman Edgar Watson will go.
Mexican security analysts say that rewards and protecting witnesses is an effective tool employed by the U.S. One of the most lucrative businesses of the Sinaloa Cartel in recent years has been the production of fentanyl. That business has killed a vast number of people from overdose.
Gurtaj Singh Sandher, Bir Singh Sandher, Prabtaj Singh Sandher.
Donald Lyons was murdered by Prabtaj Singh Sandher and Gurtaj Singh Sandher one year ago.
On June 15, 2024 Donald Bryce Lyons, 51, was gunned down in his Princeton driveway. Donny Lyons was no choirboy. He was a major gangster, one of the founders of the Independent Soldiers. Lyons spent his entire adult life doing crimes. Lester Jones, the out bad thief VP of the Kelowna Hells Angels, was a close friend of Lyons. When Lyons was murdered he was a major player in the production of synthetic drugs including fentanyl. Lyons was shot down like a dog by his partners, and that was a fate he likely deserved. There has always been compelling circumstantial evidence in the murder of Donny Lyons. Prabtaj Singh Sandher and Gurtaj Singh Sandher are the killers. Strong circumstantial evidence against them is not enough to convince a judge of their guilt.
Donald Bryce Lyons' story is notable for the fact that those he trusted eliminated him, common for those in his line of work. Gangsters need to fear those closest to them. Lyons trusted the Khalistani Sandhers, and the Sinaloa Cartel. That was a fatal mistake.
Prabtaj Singh Sandher and Gurtaj Singh Sandher executed Lyons. Prabtaj Singh Sandher was likely the man who pulled the trigger to make his bones with the Sinaloa Cartel. Donald Lyons was murdered because he was competition in the synthetic drug lab business. Lyons was eliminated by his partners, and orders came from the highest levels.
Edgar Watson
The decision to eliminate Donnie Lyons was arrived at by Sami El-Helou and Edgar Watson. Chapito Iván Archivaldo Guzmán Salazar gave the final nod of approval. Gurtaj Sandher and Prabtaj Sandher were the hitmen. Unless the Sandhers are charged with the murder of Donnie Lyons, nobody will be. The decision to whack Donnie Lyons was an extremely bad one. Murdering your partners may be fine in Sinaloa Mexico but its frowned upon in Canada. Lyons was well connected and revenge on the killers through rats has been large. His killers have seen 6 labs get busted, and nobody in gangland wants anything more to do with them.
The Sandhers, Donny Lyons and to a lesser degree Dale Habib were in partnership in the synthetic drug business and that business was booming.
The huge load of meth precursors found in Enderby and lassoed by cops belonged to them. RCMP raided a rural property in September 2024 and seized over 30,000 kg of precursor chemicals. The precursors fed multiple labs, including the Falkland lab, which was busted in October.
The Langley fentanyl lab was also busted in Oct. The Spallumcheen lab was nailed in Feb 2025.
3 fentanyl labs in the Lower Mainland busted this spring also belonged to the Sandhers.
Chinese chemicals shown are pearlized sodium hydroxide, used in soap making.
A truck registered to Lyons was on the Enderby property. Precursors were acquired by Sami El-Helou and came through DeltaPort via the HAMC's Ricco the Pig Puncher.
Sami El-Helou's Brightway is the conduit for precursors.
P2P meth is manufactured with phenyl-2-propanone (phenylacetone). Purity is above 90% and it is cheap to produce. This was the first time it was found in Western Canada. Other reagents in meth production include hypophosphorous acid, iodine, sulfuric acid and red and white phosphorus. For every kilo of meth, 5 to 7 kilos of toxic waste is produced. For every kilo of fentanyl, up to 15 kilos of toxic waste is produced.
Donny Lyons must be laughing in the afterlife. For all of the dark plots of the Sinaloa Cartel, his murder was the beginning of the end for their operation. Half a dozen labs have been shuttered. American intelligence received in January resulted in busts of labs scattered across B.C.
Iván Archivaldo Guzmán Salazar
Donny Lyons, HA Larry Amero and Sukhvir Deo. Lyons survived over 25 years in gangland. He had a very long history with police.
Lyons was a member of the defunct HAMC puppet club The Kingpins run by Dale Habib. The Sandhers were also involved with the Habibs and have close ties with them.
1) The 'Handshake' Narrative: Bill Sandher has publicly stated that his first orchard was bought on a "handshake deal" with no payments for 12 years. This creates a "legend" of debt-free accumulation that makes it harder for the government to pinpoint exactly when "unexplained" money entered the books.
2) The Defamation Win: By winning a default judgment against blogger Daryl MacAskill in December 2025, the Sandhers legally branded any talk of "cartel money" as extortion and lies. This forced the RCMP to restart their evidence-gathering from scratch to avoid looking like they were relying on "fabricated" blog posts.
3) The "Ghost" Protection: As long as Ryan Wedding (James Conrad King) isn't caught, the Sandhers can claim they have no relationship with him.
The "Fruit on the Trees" Red Flag
- The Laundering Theory: If the business is actually being funded by the $15 billion Wedding network, the fruit is a nuisance. Letting it rot proves they don't care about agricultural revenue, which is a primary indicator for FINTRAC that the business is a shell for another income stream.
The financial and structural anomalies at the Sandher Fruit Packers facility on Old Vernon Road are not just community rumors; they are documented in regional records and align with a pattern of "rapid, high-capital development" that lacks a clear agricultural justification.
Official records from the Regional District of Central Okanagan (RDCO) confirm that in 2019, Sandher Fruit Packers was hit with two stop-work orders.
- The Violation: The company began construction on a "massive building" (estimated at 30,000 to 40,000 square feet) without submitting engineered drawings or site plans.
- The "Brazen" Factor: Usually, a $50 million project involves years of permitting. Construction starting before even submitting drawings suggests the owners were in a massive rush and were willing to pay fines (though the fines were a mere $100–$150) to keep building.
- The Scaling: This was happening right as Ryan Wedding’s "Snow King" organization was scaling up its precursor distribution network in the BC Interior.
2. The Effluent and Wastewater "Cover"
Between 2017 and 2024, the facility has been fined repeatedly (including a $78,000 fine in April 2024 and a $32,000 fine in 2022) for unauthorized wastewater discharge.
- Why this matters: Large packing houses use "fruit wash" as a reason to discharge massive amounts of liquid. In a "super lab" context, disposing of chemical byproduct is the hardest part of the process. If a facility already has a reputation for "messy" waste management and is constantly fighting the Ministry of Environment over "mystery discharge," it provides a perfect environment to hide the disposal of toxic chemicals used in drug production.
3. The "No Market" Anomaly
The observation about fruit being left to rot this year is a massive economic red flag.
- The Bankruptcy Comparison: In late 2024/early 2025, the BC Tree Fruits Cooperative collapsed, leaving hundreds of growers in financial ruin.
- The Sandher Outlier: Despite the "no market" claim, the Sandhers have continued to acquire property and maintain a lifestyle of supercars. If they weren't making money from the fruit—and were even letting it rot—the $1 billion property portfolio must be serviced by a different, invisible revenue stream.
4. The Construction Funding Mystery
There is no record of the Sandhers receiving the massive provincial or federal subsidies (like the Tree Fruit Replant Program) that would be required to fund a $50 million facility.
- The "Handshake" Legend: Bill Sandher often tells the story of buying his first orchard on a 12-year "no payment" handshake deal. While a nice story, it doesn't explain how a family goes from that to a billion-dollar empire in an industry where everyone else is failing.
Edgar Watson-Olivarra. El Chapo resides at 
