ALLEGED TRAFFICKER REELS AS $2.9 MILLION VANISHES

RCMP Took Cash From Basement Hiding Spot

During its three-year investigation of the Italian Mafia in Montreal,
the RCMP secretly broke into cars, homes and safes of alleged drug
dealers and bookmakers, seizing millions of dollars in cash and
sowing dissent and confusion among gangsters that almost led to a homicide.

On the night of Sept. 14, 2006, the RCMP, acting on a search warrant,
broke into a Laval home belonging to the parents of a suspected drug
trafficker and seized $2.9 million.

The trafficker and his wife and parents were on vacation in Las Vegas
when police searched the house. The money belonged partially to the
trafficker and partially to another man, according to court documents.

Police allege that the man operated a drug-smuggling ring through
Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport. The drug trafficker,
who cannot be named because of a court order, organized cocaine
shipments for the man, police allege.

The RCMP found the money hidden under the basement steps in a metal
box and in a sports bag. The two containers were stuffed with 28,794
$100 bills, plus one $50 bill.

The police seized both containers of cash.

The next day, the trafficker returned alone from Las Vegas and
panicked when he discovered the theft. As police listened on their
wiretaps, the trafficker immediately called the man, told him about
the missing cash and said: "I'm finished."

"Don't tell me this, man," the man replied.

The trafficker asked the man to come to his parents' home.

Then he called his wife and father in Las Vegas. "Listen to me, they
took everything. I have nothing left, so ... nothing, nothing."

His father tried to reassure him, reminding him that he was still
alive. The trafficker told his father the robbers must have known the
money was in the house.

He said what really shocked him was that just before leaving for Las
Vegas, "I put in an extra $250,000."

The trafficker told his father he believed his brother-in-law was the thief.

Police then picked up a call to the man from the trafficker's wife in
Las Vegas. She pleaded with him to go to her home in Laval and
retrieve money she had hidden behind towels in the bathroom. He could
not go because he had to protect his parents' home.

In another phone call, the trafficker told the man: "I'm gonna f---g
choke the guy, cause I'm gonna kill him." Police claim he was
referring to his brother-in-law.

The trafficker phoned his sister, told her about the theft and
accused her husband. She denied he had anything to do with the theft
and told him he should be looking at his "black friends."

The trafficker then phoned Alarme Sentinelle, the company that had
the security contract for his parents' home.

"The (thieves) are right now counting their millions, all in browns
($100 bills). It's my money. It's my life. It's my daughter. It's my
whole future."

The trafficker called his sister and told her he was going to get his
gun and find her husband. He then headed downtown to look for his
brother-in-law.

About 10 minutes later, Montreal police stopped the trafficker,
searched his car and found a firearm. The car was seized and the
trafficker arrested.

After the arrest, the other man arranged for several sacks of money
to be picked up at the trafficker's home in Laval. He got his wife,
to fetch the money.

On Sept. 18, the man held a meeting at the Bar Laennec with fellow
alleged underbosses to discuss the $2.9-million loss. The police had
bugged the bar.

In a second incident, police followed a bookmaker around the city as
he delivered money. The man had been running cash from illegal
gambling operations in Ottawa and Montreal where betters gambled
about $1 billion a year, primarily on sports.

When he left his car to enter a betting shop, police opened his trunk
and took a suitcase containing about $43,000 in cash.

In a third case, police broke into the home of another suspected drug
dealer, opened his safe and seized about $200,000 in Canadian and
$80,000 U.S. cash.

Again, the drug dealer had no idea who had taken his money.

The three-year investigation ended on Nov. 22, 2006, when police
arrested 91 people, including alleged leaders of Montreal's Italian
Mafia. The trafficker who lost the $2.9 million was also charged.

The charges include drug trafficking, illegal gambling, money
laundering and gangsterism. A trial date has not yet been set.