ABBY FIREFIGHTER LINKED TO DRUG SYNDICATE

Australian Police And Mounties Unite To Dismantle Narcotics Network

One of five Canadians arrested in a massive Australian drug bust is
an auxiliary firefighter in Abbotsford, with a four-year-old daughter.

[Name redacted], 36, was charged after Australian police and customs
agents in Queensland this week found $30 million in cocaine and $3
million in ecstasy pills hidden in 33 of 420 computer monitors inside
a container that sailed from Deltaport.

"I'm very disappointed," said Hotner's ex-wife Joanne, 39, a lab
technician in Abbotsford. "He comes from a really good family."

His parents ran a blueberry and chicken farm, she said. [Name
redacted], took over his father's vinyl-siding company about five
years ago, but it went bust about a year ago, she said.

"He lost everything," she said.

[Name redacted], had worked as an auxiliary firefighter with the
Abbotsford department for more than 10 years, she said.

Joanne said she won't tell their daughter about [Name redacted],
arrest, but she worries about what will happen if he's convicted.

"I don't know if she'll ever see him," Joanne said.

Three other suspects, [Name redacted],29, [Name redacted], 39, and
Matthew Thomas Reed, 25, are all thought to be from Abbotsford.
Another Canadian, [Name redacted],27, was arrested, as well as one Australian.

Meanwhile, the RCMP, who helped with the original arrests, are
continuing the investigation here.

"They are working on the other end as we speak," said Australian
federal agent Mike Phelan, speaking on Global BC last night.

"There is a possibility of further action being taken in Canada.

"We are extremely confident [we have] closed down a very significant
international crime syndicate," Phelan said.

The seizure was the latest of several drug shipments from Canada to
Australia in the past year.

Police told court that [Name redacted], helped pack the shipment in
B.C. before flying to Australia. [Name redacted], lawyer said his
client was in the country on a private holiday.

Customs officers in Australia said the drugs were detected Sept. 8.
The pallets were unloaded and X-rayed, then an inert substance was
substituted for the drugs and the suspects were followed.

Court was told that [Name redacted], visited a "spyware" shop in
Brisbane with another accused to buy a radio-frequency detector to
use on the container after it arrived in Brisbane.

Police said [Name redacted], fearing the shipment had been tampered
with, wanted to know if surveillance equipment had been installed.

All five Canadians will appear in court in November.

In June, 1.2 million ecstasy tablets from Canada were seized in Melbourne.

In May, Canadian Mehdi Mohammadi was sentenced to 14 years for trying
to smuggle $1 million worth of methamphetamine into Australia in July 2005.

Also in July 2005, Korean police arrested 45 people in a
drug-smuggling ring they said was recruiting Korean English-language
students in Vancouver to act as "mules."

The ring, which allegedly operated for 10 months into Japan,
Australia and Korea, was accused of smuggling 50 kilograms of meth
and 30 of cocaine during its operations.