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Police bust 42 suspected dope dealers

From Montreal to Clyde River, network supplied 12 Nunavut and Nunavik communities

JANE GEORGE

Police scooped up nearly four dozen suspected drug traffickers in Nunavut, Nunavik and Montreal early Tuesday morning, breaking up a marijuana and cocaine operation that netted $250,000 a week in drug sales to the North.

Police arrested 42 of 45 people by 6:24 a.m. this past Tuesday, in a coordinated set of raids that began at 6 a.m. Police allege that all those arrested are involved in a large network that fast-tracked marijuana and cocaine from Montreal to the North.

Some 200 police officers from the Aboriginal Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit were involved in the operation, known as "Crystal."

Formed at the request of the Kativik Regional Police Force, the unit includes members from the RCMP, the Sûreté du Québec provincial police, other native police forces in Quebec, and the Longueuil police force.

"I think people are glad that something is finally being done," said Brian Jones, chief of the KRPF. "And for us it's also good because other agencies are involved helping us with this problem. That's been my motto: we have to get everyone involved, and now we're seeing the results."

Those arrested included Inuit and non-Inuit, old and young, men and women, husbands and wives. The accused persons reside in 12 Nunavut and Nunavik communities: Kuujjuaraapik, Umiujaq, Sanikiluaq, Inukjuak, Puvirnituq, Akulivik, Ivujivik, Salluit, Kangirsuk, Tasiujaq, Clyde River, Iqaluit and Montreal.

Many awoke early Tuesday to the sound of police knocking on their doors armed with warrants to enter and search premises, and to arrest suspects. Those arrested weren't happy and many were surprised, but no one used force to resist arrest, police said.

Police tried to keep their plans under wraps until Tuesday morning, although on Monday a leak surfaced in Quebec at Radio-Canada, the French-language arm of CBC.

But the news didn't reach Nunavik in time to prevent the arrests from coming off as planned. By 7:15 a.m. on Tuesday, a police charter left Kuujjuaq, winging around the coasts to pick up accused persons and fly them to Montreal.

"The purpose was to dismantle a major criminal organization," said Cpl. Guy Amyot of the RCMP in Montreal.

All suspects arrested in Nunavut and Nunavik - about half the total number arrested - were flown to Montreal, where they were to be charged with a variety of offences ranging from drug trafficking, conspiracy to traffic drugs, money laundering and gangsterism.

Police said the ring used Canada Post to send drugs to the North in small amounts.

"They were supplying up to four and six kilos of cannabis on a weekly basis, and the organization generated up to $150,000 to $250,000 a week," Amyot said.

Unspecified amounts of cannabis, cocaine and money were seized during police searches of 14 dwellings in Montreal.

Police allege that the head of the network is Marcello Ruggiero, a resident of the Montreal suburb of Terrebonne.

A restraining order was placed on two residences owned by Ruggiero, where eight vehicles, including a top-of-the-line black Mercedes convertible, a Land Rover, and a Harley Davidson motorcycle were also seized as possible proceeds of crime.

"We've got people living in these million-dollar mansions, with big bank accounts and traveling all over and not helping us at all with the social problems. So we're left holding the bag, trying to explain to the families and the communities what's going on. With our limited resources, drugs and alcohol have caused us a lot of problems," Jones said in a telephone interview from Kuujjuaq.

Police were unable to establish a link between this particular network and Quebec's notorious biker gangs.

"We know the motorcycle gangs are distributing marijuana but we don't have any link," Amyot said.

Police admit the recent bust only accounts for a portion of the drug trafficking in Nunavut and Nunavut.

"At least, we broke down one organization and hopefully we will do the same with some more organizations," Amyot said.

A resident in one of the smaller communities hit by the police operation said authorities should worry more about conjugal violence and youth unrest than drug trafficking.

"It's just a merry-go-round. I think their big push to arrest makes drugs more expensive. Users are going to find someone else, and grass will get more expensive. If it was less expensive, fewer kids would go hungry."

This week's arrests are the latest in a string of recent operations aimed at the seizure of illegal alcohol and drugs, and police say "Crystal" is the first step in a major effort to quell drug trafficking in Nunavut and Nunavik.

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