A criminal group linked to the Iranian regime called on the Canadian Hells Angels to organize the assassination of an opponent in exile in the United States and one of his relatives, according to an FBI investigation carried out with the help of the Gendarmerie Royal Canadian Forces (RCMP) and Canadian intelligence services.
In a statement released Monday, the US government described “a network of individuals who targeted Iranian dissidents and opposition activists for assassination at the request of the Iranian regime.”
Still according to Washington, the network is in the service of Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security, but it is run by an Iranian drug trafficker named Naji Ibrahim Sharifi-Zindashti. The latter is said to have carried out “several acts of transnational repression, including assassinations and kidnappings in several jurisdictions in an attempt to silence those who are perceived as critics of the Iranian regime”.
“Iranian security forces protect Zindashti and his criminal empire, allowing Zindashti to thrive in the country’s drug market and live a life of luxury while his network exports the regime’s repression,” the statement continued. According to American authorities, Zindashti’s network is linked to murders committed in several countries, including Canada, the United Arab Emirates and Turkey.
High-level member
According to an indictment filed in a US federal court in Maryland, it was in 2021 that Zindashti’s network made contact with a man who was previously described by the RCMP as one of the most prolific members of organized crime in Canada: Damion Patrick John Ryan, 43 years old.
Ryan is officially a member of a Hells Angels chapter in Greece, but he is very active in Canada, from British Columbia to Manitoba to Ottawa. He is currently detained following his arrest for a drug trafficking case. According to an RCMP interview with the daily Winnipeg Free Press in 2022, he is also a member of the Wolfpack, an alliance of members of different “highest level” criminal organizations who collaborate in the distribution of drugs across Canada.
According to the indictment filed in the United States, the Iranian network asked Ryan to organize the murder of an Iranian man exiled in Maryland and a woman who had left the country with him. The network provided photos and coordinates for the targets. A price of US$350,000 plus $20,000 in expenses was agreed for the contract.
The FBI says it has learned that an associate of the Hells Angels from Western Canada, Adam Richard Pearson, 29, was recruited by Ryan to take care of this sinister work. Pearson allegedly lived for a time under a false identity in the United States.
Plot disrupted
Several encrypted messages from participants in the plot intercepted by American investigators mention shooting victims in the head and separating their heads from their torsos, according to the indictment.
The plan was never carried out. “Thanks to the skillful work of federal prosecutors and law enforcement officers, this contract murder plot was disrupted,” said Federal Prosecutor Andrew Luger.
Both Ryan and Pearson were arrested in Canada in connection with their other criminal activities. They now face a series of charges in the United States in connection with the murder plot.
Naji Ibrahim Sharifi-Zindashti is also accused, but according to American authorities, he is in Iran. There is little chance he will ever see the inside of an American courtroom.
The United States highlighted the assistance of the RCMP and the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) in this matter.