Pubdate: Thu, 01 Jan 2015
Source: Ottawa South News (CN ON)
Copyright: 2015 Metroland
Contact:  http://www.ottawacommunitynews.com/ottawasouth-on
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/5531
Author: Erin McCracken

OTTAWA GUN VIOLENCE MAY DIMINISH IN WAKE OF DRUG RAID: POLICE

Month-Long Investigation Nets Marijuana, Hash, Cocaine, Cash

The Ottawa police takedown of an illicit drug network involving three 
generations of the same family and the mail-order distribution of 
marijuana from Ottawa to Nunavut likely has dealt a blow to Ottawa 
drug dealers that could translate into less gun violence, according 
to the head of the Ottawa police drug unit.

"Anytime you restrict the supply - it's the commodity - and if 
somewhere down the chain we've kept four or five guys from getting 
their supply of drugs to sell, they're not going to be fighting in a 
turf war because they have no product to offer," said acting Staff 
Sgt. Ian McDonell.

Drug unit investigators and tactical police officers swept through 
four residences the evening of Dec. 17, including in the 400-block of 
Leitrim Road in Leitrim, the 100-block of Castlegreen Private and the 
zero to 100-block of Haxby Private, both in Greenboro, and the 
1100-block of Meadowlands Drive in Nepean.

The sweep netted 13,751 grams of marijuana with an estimated street 
value of $137,512, 8,471 grams of hash valued at $169,436, 989 grams 
of powder cocaine valued at $98,975, 1,137 grams of an unknown 
substance that has since been sent to Health Canada for analysis, as 
well as $3,466 in Canadian cash.

Eight people were taken into custody, and in the days following the 
bust police were seeking to charge two more individuals in connection 
with the drug investigation, including an 84-year-old mother of at 
least one of the men arrested, and grandmother of a 22-year-old old 
man who is also facing charges in connection with the investigation, 
McDonell said.

The case began in mid-November when investigators uncovered an 
illicit network in which taped up bags of 668 grams of marijuana, 
with an Ottawa street value of $6,685, were resealed in 12 partially 
empty coffee cans and were to be shipped via Canada Post to 
communities in Nunavut and sold at a much higher cost.

"You name it, they've thought of how to ship stuff in," said 
McDonell, who is aware of attempts to smuggle cocaine-filled 
pineapples into Montreal.

Over the next two to three weeks, suspects were followed, different 
players were identified and evidence was gathered, culminating in the arrests.

Though some of the marijuana was earmarked for Nunavut, the rest of 
the haul seized by police was likely destined for Ottawa as part of a 
network that McDonell suspects has been in operation for some time.

"If you look at the volumes you're dealing with - 30 pounds (13,752 
grams) of marijuana, eight kilos (of hash), a kilo of coke, a 
distribution network going up north, the whole local component, the 
number of associates and everything in this network - you don't just 
decide to start that one day," McDonell said. "In general, if you're 
doing this kind of sophisticated network, you've been in this game a long time.

"To buy in those quantities, you have to know some heavy hitters."

Considering the size of the seizure, which included a brick of 
cocaine and eight bricks of hash, McDonell said those drugs would 
have trickled down through a hierarchy of drug dealers in Ottawa, 
some of them likely street-gang members or organized criminals Ottawa 
police have said are behind a recent string of shootings in the 
city's west end.

"Some of that coke eventually makes its way to Ritchie Street, and 
that's what these guys are fighting over - their little corners and 
their turf wars, and who's got this neck of the woods," McDonell 
said, adding that taking away some of their income source makes a 
sizable dent in the drug marketplace.

For instance, the 989 grams of cocaine picked up by police would 
typically be cut or buffed - a process in which another substance is 
added to dilute the product - as it is distributed down the chain, 
providing an extra $30,000 to $40,000 for the dealers.

"That'll buy you a few guns," McDonell said. "It'll buy you a lot of 
ammunition."

The arrests include that of three Ottawa man, ages 55, 46 and 24, who 
are facing drug possession and trafficking charges as well as charges 
for the possession of the proceeds of crime.

Two Ottawa men, ages 22 and 60, and three Ottawa women, ages 19, 26 
and 37, are facing drug possession charges.

In the days following the police raid, an 84-year-old woman was still 
wanted by police for drug possession. Police also planned to charge a 
39-year-old Ottawa man with drug possession.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom