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A high-profile B.C gangster has been sentenced to life in prison in the Philippines for his involvement in an international drug-trafficking ring that set up in the Southeast Asian country.

Independent Soldier James Riach, who is part of the Wolf Pack gang alliance, got the news in a Manila courtroom Wednesday, along with his Canadian co-accused Ali Shirazi.

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Judge Selma Alaras issued an 11-page ruling, saying both Riach and Shirazi had possessed more than $2.5 million Cdn worth of ecstasy and shabu — a local pill that contains methamphetamine and caffeine.

The Canadians were also ordered to pay a $12,000 fine.

The Philippines National Bureau of Investigation arrested Riach and Shirazi at their rented Manila condo in January 2014. They had been in the country for about three months.

Also arrested at another apartment and charged that day was Riach’s long-time B.C. associate Barry Espadilla. But Espadilla was released 18 months later after an appeals court judge accepted his lawyer’s argument that police lied to get search warrants in the case.