TAIPEI (Taiwan News) -- As detectives unravel the multiple, twisted layers of the gruesome case of the murder and dismemberment of a Canadian English teacher in New Taipei City, it has been revealed that the deceased teacher had become a major supplier of cannabis in the city, thanks in large part to his "marijuana farm," reports ETtoday.
Though police initially suspected 43-year-old Canadian English teacher-turned drug dealer Sanjay Ryan Ramgahan (顏柏萊) was murdered by 30-year-old African-American male Ewart Odane Bent and 37-year-old Israeli-American tattoo artist Oren Shlomo Mayer, also known as "Oz Diamond" because they believed Ramgahan was working as an informant for the police, they now believe another motivation for the murder was the possession of his massive "marijuana farm." Police do not rule out the possibility that rather than fleeing to the Philippines with his accomplice Mayer, Bent opted to stay behind in hopes that he could take over Ramgahan's marijuana fields.
As the investigation into Ramgahan's murder enters its second week, they have revealed that he was a major supplier of marijuana in northern Taiwan. Members of the investigation team disclosed that Ramgahan had a relatively large-scale marijuana growing operation which enabled him to maintain a steady stream of the illicit drug he was providing to his buyers.
They are now considering the possibility that Bent was motivated to kill Ramgahan to gain access to his "mysterious farm" and therefore opted to stay in the country, even though his accomplice Mayer had tried to convince him to flee with him to the Philippines.
Ramgahan originally came to Taiwan ten years ago to teach English at cram schools, but he later became exposed to the illicit cannabis trade and found it to be "amazingly" profitable. Ramgahan eventually quit his English teaching job and became an upstream supplier of marijuana.
Although Ramgahan lived a low-profile life, never driving a car or living in a luxury home, police had homed in on him long ago as a major supplier of cannabis in northern Taiwan and had been trying to track down the origin of his supply.
According to police, Ramgahan had his own marijuana farm. As more people contacted him for techniques and training on starting their own cannabis growing operations, the number of marijuana seizures by Taiwanese police started to spike in recent years.
Ramgahan was said to be very friendly to foreigners and quickly became popular among expat circles because of his cannabis expertise. Police pointed out that many of Ramgahan's clients were wealthy expats, "Fuerdai" (children of the nouveau riche), and middle-class Taiwanese who had returned from abroad.
Although Ramgahan's clientele was very stable and police have been monitoring his drug trafficking network for some time, they have yet to determine the exact location of his cannabis growing operation.
Police familiar with the behavior patterns of foreigners who come to Taiwan without family in Taiwan, say that they generally form small circles of friends. In this case, Ramgahan at a local nightclub became acquainted with Mayer, who eventually hired his wife, surnamed Yen (顏), also known as "Cat Diamond," to work at his tattoo shop.
However, in October of last year, Yen tragically drowned after being struck by a rogue wave on Mystery Beach while she was vacationing in Yilan County with Ramgahan.
Mayer eventually learned that Ramgahan had been running a highly lucrative drug-selling business with marijuana sourced from his farm and therefore allegedly began working with Ramgahan in the drug trade, before reportedly later inviting Bent to join in on the operation.
However, after Ramgahan had been arrested twice earlier this year on drug charges, but had been released, and in recent weeks, Bent and Mayer had both also been arrested by police for drug charges, they strongly suspected that Ramgahan had become a drug informant. Though police originally thought this, along with an ongoing feud, were their primary motives to plot his murder, they now suspect the two also had designs on gaining control of his lucrative drug-dealing network and vast marijuana growing operation.
Little did they know that Ramgahan's faithful dog "Lulu" would put up such a heroic fight and lead friends to the man's dismembered corpse the next day.
