Date: Thu, 1 Apr 2004 12:49:10 -0800
Pubdate: Thu, 01 Apr 2004
Source: Globe and Mail (Canada)
Copyright: 2004, The Globe and Mail Company
Page: A8
Contact:  http://www.globeandmail.ca/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/168
Authors: Timothy Appleby and Mary Nersessian
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/raids.htm (Drug Raids)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mdma.htm (Ecstasy)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis)

POLICE IN CANADA, U.S. CRACK MAJOR DRUG RING

Simultaneous Raids in Both Countries Cap a Three-Year-Long
Investigation

Two Asian nationals -- one in Toronto, the other in Ottawa -- headed a
huge North American drug-manufacturing ring that distributed ecstasy
pills and marijuana to 19 U.S. and Canadian cities, police said
yesterday. Arrest warrants were issued for 170 people on both sides of
the border.

The alleged conspiracy involves the biggest ecstasy-making operation
ever uncovered on the continent and netted an estimated $300-million
(U.S.) over its five-year life. Most of that money is believed to have
been funnelled to Vietnam.

Shortly after 7 a.m. yesterday police awakened Wong Ze Wai, who is
accused of being the kingpin of the network, at the Scarborough
condominium that had been his home for the past few months and whisked
him to Toronto's 42 Division police station, where he was charged.

Simultaneously, authorities in Ottawa scooped up Le Thi Phuong Mai, a
38-year-old Vietnamese citizen alleged to be the operation's chief
money-launderer. The three-year investigation "had a common thread
that led back to Ottawa," Police Chief Vince Bevan told a press
conference in the capital.

In addition to trafficking, Mr. Wong, 46, is accused of orchestrating
the manufacture of ecstasy tablets in crude labs, made from powder
believed to have been smuggled from the Netherlands, and the
production of hydroponic marijuana.

"He was the operations officer for the whole organization and he was
the one responsible for sending these shipments down south," RCMP
Chief Superintendent Ben Soave told a packed Toronto news conference,
where large bags of drugs were displayed alongside pill presses and
stacks of cash.

Ms. Le, a legal Canadian resident, is alleged to have overseen the
laundering of roughly $5-million (U.S.) worth of drug sales a month.

"This is the first time that we have discovered a massive ecstasy
pill-production operation in North America," U.S. deputy
attorney-general James Comey said in Washington, where the raids were
hailed as an example of effective cross-border policing. "It's also
significant because we have dismantled a large ecstasy organization
run by Asian traffickers, something else we haven't seen before."

Much of the ecstasy is thought to have been manufactured at three
Toronto-area labs that were shut down last year. Close to 380,000
pills and 120 kilograms of ecstasy powder were seized at the time.

"Between them, they could produce a quarter of a million pills a day,"
Chief Supt. Soave said.

In the United States, more than 100 people were arrested in 16 cities,
with warrants issued for about 20 more. An additional 50 arrest
warrants were issued in Ottawa, Toronto and Montreal.

Officials said that at its height, the drug ring was distributing a
million ecstasy tablets a month in the two countries, accounting for
15 per cent of all the ecstasy consumed in the United States. Ecstasy,
or MDMA, is a synthetic substance known as a "club drug" because of
its popularity at dance clubs and has been linked to dozens of deaths.

The organization also trafficked in high-strength Canadian-grown
marijuana and was involved in identity theft, credit-card fraud and
illegal gambling, officials said.

In Ottawa, 29 arrests were made and eight pot-growing operations shut
down. In Toronto, there were seven arrests and in Montreal two.

In the United States, arrests were made in Houston; Los Angeles; San
Francisco; Oakland, Calif., San Jose, Calif.; Jacksonville, Fla.; New
Orleans; Baton Rouge, La.; Mobile, Ala.; New York; Boston; Atlanta;
Alexandria, Va.; Des Moines; Minneapolis; and Salt Lake City.

Nearly $6-million (U.S.) and up to $3-million (Canadian) was also
seized.

Chief Supt. Soave likened the network's structure to that of a large
corporation. "Today we have arrested the alleged chief operations
officer and the chief financial officer, we have arrested the finance
department, the rest of middle management and the sales force, this is
no longer a viable criminal operation."

He added that the money was laundered by "co-mingling legitimate funds
with the proceeds of the crime, getting them through the banking
system, back up to Canada and on to Vietnam."

Chief Supt. Soave was unable to comment on whether Vietnamese
authorities were involved in the investigation. 
- ---
MAP posted-by: Richard Lake