TRAFFIC STOP NETS $1 MILLION IN POT

Two Ontario men are facing drug charges after Cochrane RCMP found
marijuana worth close to $1 million during a vehicle stop early Sunday
morning.

This is the second time in the past three months that RCMP have made a
major bust along that stretch of the Trans-Canada Highway.

"It's the quickest way for traffic to make their way from one major
centre to another," said RCMP Sgt. Patrick Webb.

"There's a bit of luck involved to apprehend these guys. Some weeks
we'll catch two or three loads, and other times we won't catch anyone
for a month."

But Sunday's bust, and one in late May near Canmore that netted $1.5
million worth of cocaine, indicate these are major shipments being
sent to places where demand is high.

"This is further up the distribution chain," Webb said.

A truck registered in Ontario was pulled over Sunday around 3:30 a.m.
for a traffic offence eastbound on the Trans-Canada just west of Cochrane.

A police drug dog brought in to help with the investigation helped
locate almost 59 kilograms of marijuana that had been concealed in the
truck.

The drugs may have been destined for Ontario or somewhere along the
way, Webb said.

In May, a suspected drug pusher was pulled over on the Trans-Canada by
Canmore RCMP for driving too slowly in the passing lane.

But when officers searched the vehicle being driven by a 29-year-old
man from Surrey, B.C., they found 20 kilograms of cocaine worth an
estimated $1.5 million.

Ald. Diane Colley-Urquhart said it's a concern that Calgary is a
corridor between B.C.'s infamous marijuana grow ops and points unknown.

"We are a hub. It points out that organized crime knows no borders,"
she said.

And the size of the two recent busts is also telling.

"This points out that the growing and trafficking in marijuana is not
a ma-and-pa operation," Colley-Urquhart said.

Gary Robert Paul, 54, and Kevin Slater, 33, both of Caledonia, Ont.,
have been charged with possession for the purpose of
trafficking.

They are expected in Cochrane provincial court on Thursday.

In the Canmore case, Karim Ben-Jaafar has been charged with possession
of a controlled substance for the purpose of trafficking.

He is scheduled to appear in Canmore provincial court on Sept. 13.