POLICE GO TO POT, ARREST 29

$2 Million Seized Marijuana Shipped To U.S. Through Akwesasne
Reserve

Marijuana worth an estimated $1 million, bundles of $2 million in
cash, assault rifles, three grenade launchers and brass knuckles told
the story: Dealing in illegal drugs is a big, dangerous business.

And with the 15 raids and 29 arrests they made yesterday, a team of
aboriginal, provincial and federal police served notice that they've
made a serious dent in what they described as a multimillion-dollar
marijuana pipeline from Mohawk reserves near Montreal to the United
States.

"We're sending a message," said Gorden McGregor, head of the Quebec
First Nations Chiefs of Police Association. "Drugs are not acceptable
in our communities, clear and simple. It comes down to us. If we don't
stop this, who will?"

Along with nearly 115 kilograms of pot, police also seized 10 luxury
vehicles, including high-end SUVs and at least one sports car.

"Not just everyone has these in their homes." Dwayne Zacharie, chief
of the peacekeepers in Kahnawake, said of the seized AK-47 and M-16
assault rifles.

One of those arrested was Daniel Dwayne Delisle Jr., 43, of Kahnawake.
Police allege he led the ring that took pot grown in Mascouche and
Chateauguay near Montreal and shipped it to the U.S. through the
porous international border inside the Akwesasne Mohawk reserve, which
straddles the St. Lawrence River and the borders of Ontario, Quebec
and New York State.

The drugs were smuggled by boat in the summer and by trucks and
snowmobile in the winter, said Sgt. Michael Harvey of the RCMP's
customs and excise section.

Some smugglers stuffed the marijuana in hockey bags, Harvey said.
"They just bring it in through St. Regis, Quebec and along the main
road in Akwesasne. It's a high volume operation. (Smaller) arrests are
made all the time" on both the Canadian and the U.S. side, he added.

The pot's street value in the U.S. is double what it is in Canada,
Harvey said.

Zacharie said there was some unease due to the arrests in Kahnawake,
where many of the 8,000 residents are extended family members. "We
still have to live with the fallout from this," he said. "I want to
make sure the community is safe for my family and everyone else's family."

Of the 22 men and seven women arrested, ages 23 to 60, eight live in
Kahnawake, 10 in Akwesasne, one in the Kanesatake Mohawk community
near Oka, and 10 in Montreal.

They face charges of gangsterism, drug exportation, illegal weapons
possession, drug possession, drug trafficking, conspiracy to traffic
drugs, conspiracy to export drugs and drug manufacturing. Police are
still searching for two more suspected smugglers.

Three hundred police officers, including the Kahnawake and Akwesasne
peacekeepers, worked with RCMP and Surete du Quebec on what was known
as Operation Cancun, since January 2007. Officers with the Ontario
Provincial Police and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency also assisted.