The takedown of a cocaine ring by the RCMP has led to five convictions and a warning from Yukon territorial court to B.C. drug dealers: don’t come here.

“I hope that as words spread of the sentences, others down south won’t come here to take advantage of local people,” Judge Donald Luther said Tuesday.

Luther sentenced Bradley Prowal, Jeffery Redick and Taylor Wallace for their roles in a cocaine trafficking ring operating in the Yukon.

Prowal received three years for trafficking cocaine, Redick 3 1/2 years for trafficking cocaine and two weapons offences and Taylor Wallace six months for the careless use of a firearm.

They had entered guilty pleas at what was supposed to be a preliminary hearing.

All three are from B.C., and moved to the territory a couple of years ago. They operated as part of the Langley-based 856 gang.

An agreed statement of facts read in court by Crown prosecutor Eric Marcoux shed some light on the investigation conducted by Yukon RCMP’s Federal Investigations Unit.

In May 2014, the unit received information about a cocaine ring run by Prowal, and started investigating it.

The police set out to make a first purchase using a phone number they had learned of, with the goal to then “work up the line.”

An undercover police agent called the phone number on June 27, 2014.

Later that day, the agent approached a car and talked to Prowal.

He purchased $50 worth of cocaine.

The agent was given a new cellphone number for further purchases.

On Nov. 22, 2014, the agent called again, this time to arrange a four-ounce delivery, about 113 grams, with Prowal.

The following day, the agent exchanged $12,000 for the four ounces at the Canada Games Centre parking lot.

On Jan. 25, the agent made another purchase, this time 116 grams of cocaine for $10,000.

Redick was present during a number of the transactions made with the undercover agent, the Crown said.

On March 16, 2015, the RCMP decided to end the investigation and arrested all three men.

They obtained a warrant for a home they had been surveilling.

Police seized three loaded handguns, three rifles, cocaine, pills, $20,000 in cash, large quantities of ammunition and “856” T-shirts at the home.

Police recovered Redick’s fingerprints on one of the rifles. At the time, he was under a firearm prohibition.

The Crown admitted they had the least amount of evidence on Wallace – he was only seen leaving the residence.

They also obtained a warrant to check inside the mouths of the three men. Wallace had “856”, Prowal “85” and Redick “8” tattooed inside their mouths.

In 2014, the Vancouver Sun reported that complete 856 tattoos were for high-ranking members of the gang, with 85 and eight tattoos for lower-level members.

The sentences were joint submissions from the Crown and the defence lawyers.

For all three men, the Crown told the court they should get credit for entering a guilty plea early on.

A four-day preliminary hearing was supposed to have started Tuesday.

Prowal has 18 months left to serve, taking into account credit he was granted for his time on remand. He received a $200 fine.

The 27-year-old plans to head back to B.C. once he is released and become a longshoreman, his lawyer, David Tarnow, told the court.

While Luther noted that the sentences for Prowal and Redick were on the “light” end of available terms, he accepted them.

Jurisprudence says a judge should depart from joint submissions only if they’re demonstrably unfit, he noted.

He warned both men that if caught again, they would be looking at sentences ranging from five to 10 years in a federal penitentiary.

Redick, 35, has 24 months less a day left to serve. He was also fined $600.

His lawyer, Norah Mooney, told the court he intends to work as a barber once he’s been freed.

He had done more than 200 haircuts while in jail, she said.

Wallace has three months left to serve.

The 24-year-old has been working as a horse wrangler, his lawyer, Craig Sicotte, told the court.

Wallace, who had been granted bail, flew back to the territory to serve his time, Sicotte said. He was fined $200.

All of the men assured the court they have no plans to return to the Yukon.

“These men had no reasons to come up here other than traffic drugs,” Luther noted.

“They did so with a sense of arrogance and opportunism.”

Tuesday’s convictions bring the tally to a total of five men convicted in the Monarch operation.

On Monday, Gerrit Houben-Szabo was sentenced to 18 months for failing to attend court and trafficking cocaine.

Monarch is the second operation in a year to yield convictions after a major drug bust.

In 2013, the federal investigation unit launched operation Monolith.

Using a drug dealer-turned-informant, the unit took down a similar drug supply network.

As of November 2015, prosecutors had obtained five convictions and were appealing one acquittal.

A majority of the drug dealers convicted in the Monolith operation were from B.C.