Blair Alford , 55, was given a 40-month sentence

Blair Alford , 55, was given a 40-month sentence Thursday, becoming the first of 31 people swept up in the 13-month investigation — which focused on the activities of members and associates of the Zig Zag Crew, a Hells Angels support group — to be sent to prison.The businessman pleaded guilty to trafficking cocaine during a July 2009 drug deal with an undercover police informant, a ZZC member referred to as Agent 22.Paid $450,000 and put in witness protection, the agent bought drugs and ordered guns during recorded transactions, said Crown attorney Chris Mainella.
A longtime coke and pot dealer, the agent was affiliated with the ZZC since 2002 and worked for years under a Hells Angels member, Mainella said.The cocaine Alford delivered was 60% pure and hidden in a baby formula container, court heard.
Police secretly recorded video and audio of the deal, which took place in the parking lot of a Rona store on Kenaston Boulevard, Mainella said.Alford delivered 12 ounces to the informant in exchange for $16,500, Mainella said.Afterwards, police followed Alford to Blair’s Trucking, his business.The deal was arranged by the agent and a B.C. man whose charges are unresolved, court was told.The pair met weeks earlier with a mutual friend, who was also charged, at a Moxie’s restaurant on Kenaston and traded cellphone messages.Court heard Alford drove the B.C. man to the meeting.The Crown alleges the B.C. man had a much larger role in the drug-trafficking network and has ties to Vancouver’s Independent Soldiers gang.Mainella said Alford didn’t need to get involved because he ran a successful business which supported his family.“The only explanation one can take from this is greed,” Mainella said.Court of Queen’s Bench Justice William Burnett rejected Alford’s claim he met the man a few days earlier and offered to help out of goodwill.“He was from out of town, he didn’t know the city very well so I offered to drop it off, not knowing how much trouble I was going to get into,” Alford said.Alford has been in custody since his arrest last December. He was given four months of time-served credit, meaning he has three years left to serve.The sentence was a joint recommendation by Mainella and Alford’s lawyer, Stephen Friesen.