Pubdate: Tue, 16 Jul 2002
Source: Halifax Herald (CN NS)
Copyright: 2002 The Halifax Herald Limited
Contact:  http://www.herald.ns.ca/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/180
Author: Tera Camus

MOUNTIES MAKE HUGE COKE BUST

RCMP Seize $160-million Shipment From Boat Off Cape Breton Coast

Arichat - RCMP say they stopped a $160-million cocaine shipment from 
reaching shore near Arichat this month.

Four Quebec men were arrested onshore at about 4 a.m. on July 4 after 
police intercepted a sailing ship that had made its way up the eastern 
seaboard to a remote island beach off Richmond County.

Normand Denault, 40, and Luc St. Onge, 44, both of Gatineau, Julien 
Loiselle, 36, of Montreal and Richard Tibault, 45, of Aylmer were 
immediately taken to a police plane and flown to Kingston, Ont., where 
charges of importing drugs, money laundering and possession of items 
obtained through the proceeds of crime were laid.

The stash - 595 kilograms of cocaine - is in RCMP hands in Ontario where 
the suspects are in jail awaiting trial. The force wouldn't say where the 
drugs were intercepted or how.

Two other Quebec residents - Sandra St. Onge, 47, of Gatineau and Richard 
Rivers, 40, of Cantley - along with a pair of suspects in the Turks and 
Caicos were also charged with similar offences in their hometowns.

Sgt. Ken McKinnon, head of the RCMP's Cape Breton drug unit, said the bust 
resulted from a two-year investigation after 450 kilograms of marijuana was 
seized in Cape Breton.

"One of the guys is one of the biggest importers of drugs in Canada," Sgt. 
MacKinnon said. "They were travelling down here to meet the sailboat that 
was supposed to deliver the drugs to shore.

"They are connected to organized crime in Canada."

Other police forces, both foreign and domestic, also assisted in breaking 
the Canadian drug ring, which allegedly traded hard drugs in a variety of 
countries, including Panama, Colombia, Costa Rica, St. Lucia, the Turks and 
Caicos, Trinidad and St. Vincent.

Sgt. McKinnon said Nova Scotia's sparsely populated coastline makes it a 
haven for drug traffickers, but the Mounties' Coastal Watch program is 
helping to drive them out.

"It's unbelievable what's out there for smugglers," he said. "There's so 
many isolated places out there. These guys don't need a wharf, they can 
bring up a sailboat and launch an inflatable zodiac from the ship and make 
two quick trips onshore to unload."

Cpl. Fred Gallop - provincial co-ordinator of the Coastal Watch program 
that involves hundreds of fishermen, yachters and others who live or work 
near the sea - said a tender is about to be put out for construction of a 
twin-engined high-speed catamaran that would patrol around the province and 
in the nearby waters of Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick. The 
catamaran, with a cruising speed of almost 45 kilometres per hour, is 
expected to be ready by next year.

"The more eyes and ears we got out there and with the timely transmission 
of information we get, the better it will be," Cpl. Gallop said. "We can't 
do this alone."

The new vessel will likely be stationed in a strategic location like the 
Strait of Canso.

People who notice any suspicious activity such as sailing vessels that 
don't land before nightfall, requests to hire boats for excessive fees, or 
signals flashing from ship to shore and back at night - as occurred in this 
bust - are likely signs that trouble may be brewing offshore.

Tipsters may call 1-800-803-RCMP anonymously.

Sgt. McKinnon said that if the cocaine had been successfully offloaded, 
near Janvrin Island, west of Arichat, it probably would have been trucked 
to Quebec in rental vehicles and then eventually made its way back to the 
streets of Cape Breton and elsewhere.

Police said the July 4 arrests were not related to arrests last week in 
Halifax after a major drug raid.
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