A Port Alberni man received a sentence in a federal penitentiary for selling drugs to teenagers in Port Alberni. (File photo/NanaimoNewsNOW)

By Ian Holmes

egregious offending

Teenage addicts expose Port Alberni drug trafficker

Apr 8, 2025 | 4:09 PM

NANAIMO — A local man was making money by supplying hard drugs to fragile teens in a competition-free market in Port Alberni until his greed got the better of him.

Explosive facts outlined in B.C. Supreme Court in Nanaimo on Monday, April 7 detailed Mark Khoa Tran’s appalling conduct, resulting in a three-and-a-half-year prison sentence after he pleaded guilty to half a dozen drug offences.

The now 27-year-old, also known as Markus Tran, preyed on teenagers as his primary customer base.

Tran came to the attention of law enforcement in April 2021 when two of his 14-year-old customers boldly filed complaints to Port Alberni RCMP.

At the time, B.C. Supreme Court Justice Sharon Matthews said the complainants reported Tran was supplying young people in Port Alberni with a variety of hard drugs, including prescription pills like opioids, as well as alcohol and vape products.

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“They stated that they had purchased such products from him, most of his customers aged 14 to 17 years old, some of his dealing was done in front of Maquinna Elementary School,” justice Matthews stated.

The female complainants reported they had ridden along with Tran while he delivered drugs.

On April 30, 2021, Tran, a drug user himself at the time, was arrested by Port Alberni RCMP.

Search warrants were obtained and large quantities of drugs and alcohol were found in his vehicle.

Tran’s cell phone was seized, leading to a clientele list of numerous 14 and 15-year-olds.

“Just get me my f***king money kid,” Tran texted one of them.

Tran’s message history expanded on profits from dealing to vulnerable youth and the suggestion prices should be driven upward.

February 2021 text exchanges relayed Tran’s boss threatening to behead and burn down the home of a male customer who’d complained about the quality of cocaine Tran sold.

Following his arrest, Tran was released from custody on several conditions.

However, Port Alberni RCMP suspected Tran continued selling drugs to the community’s youth and launched an undercover operation.

Tran then unknowingly sold illicit drugs on several occasions to police, including powdered cocaine.

He provided police with a comprehensive menu of his offerings during the covert operation.

2022 bust
Port Alberni RCMP raided Tran’s home in late February 2022, where Mounties obtained a significant haul.

Nearly 1.4 kilograms of cocaine, with an estimated street value of about $134,000 was seized, along with a wide range of other drugs, worth an estimated $17,000.

In addition, over $73,000 cash was found concealed behind a hot water tank, three imitation weapons were seized, as was drug paraphernalia, cell phones and other electronics.

Crown counsel’s Jen Rutherford said the cash is expected to be the source of a future contested forfeiture hearing.

Rutherford noted the offender and members of his family object to the seizure of the money alleged to have been acquired through proceeds of crime.

Tran was locked up for nearly a month and a half upon his second arrest.

He had not breached any conditions between his release in May 2022 and the sentence rendered against him.

Tran pleaded guilty to six of 22 counts, all relating to the February 2022 drug bust.

Trafficking cocaine was the most serious offence he pleaded guilty to, while he also pleaded guilty to possessing cocaine, MDMA, MDA (similar to MDMA), ketamine and benzodiazepine.

Rutherford said charges from Tran’s original 2021 arrest were stayed.

Tran’s nearly hour-long sentencing decision heard the judge reference a lack of competition to supply Port Alberni’s youth with drugs and that the offender found young people to be easy targets.

Circumstances of offender/victim impact
Tran grew up in Port Alberni and is the son of Vietnamese immigrants.

His father, a jeweller, became disabled and his mother assigned his older brother to inflict discipline upon Tran.

Judge Matthews found Tran was the victim of physical and emotional abuse during his childhood.

Tran disclosed he was referred to as stupid or useless for not being as academically successful as his two siblings.

“Mr. Tran had a hard time making friends at school until he started drinking and using substances at age 13. He made friends with other youth with whom he partied. He attributes this group of peers to his use of drugs and his ongoing problems,” justice Matthews said.

Tran reported he took over his father’s jewelry business, while he also worked as a delivery driver and at a dental office where he did custodial and lab tech work.

Tran described himself as “an urban pharmacist” in one of many incriminating text messages uncovered by Port Alberni Mounties.

While referencing difficulties Tran faced in his life as a child, justice Matthews said he needs to be accountable for his actions as an adult.

Some of his victims were barely teenagers and not in the throes of addiction, justice Matthews told the court.

“In addition to selling drugs to them, he took some of them on drug-selling trips with them, thereby normalizing drug use.”

Judge Mathews acknowledged the mental health difficulties the offender is dealing with and his demonstrated ability to excel in a residential treatment environment.

However, remorse from Tran was absent in a pre-sentence report compiled for the court.

Tran’s decision to sell drugs to children again following his 2021 arrest was emphasized by the judge.

“I accept that his own drug and alcohol use clouded his judgment, but I do not accept that it caused him to be blind to the harms he was causing to young and vulnerable people.”

A heart-wrenching victim impact statement was submitted to the court from a then-teenage girl who first approached Port Alberni RCMP in 2021.

She was a vulnerable and scared girl who stole from her parents to pay for drugs supplied by Tran over a two-year period.

The girl described herself as deeply addicted and sought drugs from the moment she woke up.

“She stated that the last grade she finished was grade seven due to drugs and that now at 18 years old she is, ‘stuck at 13 years old because of the drug effect on me and my growing brain,” read in court by justice Mathews.

She lost friends as a whistleblower as other young people no longer had their drug contact.

Her parents took the drastic decision to move off Vancouver Island, which the victim refers to as Trauma Island.

She has been sober for two years and has hope for the future.

Due to pretrial credit, 173 days of custody will be removed from Tran’s sentence.

The sentence against Tran was split down the middle from submissions presented by the Crown and defence.

Defence attorney Cheyne Hodson suggested three years behind bars for Tran.

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