$8.8 MILLION IN COCAINE SEIZED

Huge Shipments Were Bound For Eastern Canada

Lower Mainland cocaine traffickers are looking to Eastern Canada,
where they get up to $6,000 more per kilogram for their product,
police experts say.

But the greedy decision to move the illicit shipments across the
country has led to the interception by law enforcement of 1,110 kg of
cocaine worth $8.8 million and the arrest of seven members of two
independent crime groups.

"The going wholesale rate for one kilogram of cocaine is about $20,000
in Vancouver, but it's $26,000 in Toronto or Montreal," Insp. Pat
Fogarty of the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit told reporters
Thursday.

"The market's flooded here in Vancouver, so they can make a good
profit by shipping it east. Fortunately for the police, that means
more opportunities to catch these guys, and shut them down."

Both groups used U.S. suppliers importing cocaine from the same South
American source, Fogarty said. While police don't know the source
country, the cocaine of both groups was stamped with the same logo of
a character resembling a cartoon ghost.

Once across the border, the traffickers transported their goods to
their Lower Mainland distribution point.

The larger group, allegedly headed by 53-year-old Danielle Ledesma,
used a West End apartment as its drop point and would book domestic
flights as often as once a week to move the cocaine to Montreal.

The smaller group, allegedly based out of the Abbotsford rental home
of Edy Arismendy Martinez Marte, would take the cocaine east in a
large SUV with a special compartment welded into it.

Fogarty said some of those arrested were previously known to police
for their involvement in drug activity.

Court records show that Ledesma has been convicted on various charges
under her previous identity, Daniel Fernando Ledesma.

Police confirm that Ledesma, a native of Peru who arrived in Canada as
a man, has undergone a sex change procedure.

Investigators showed off their haul Thursday under tight security at
the CFSEU's headquarters in Delta.

Bricks of plastic-wrapped cocaine were stacked a metre high with more
bags of a yellowy substance jammed into boxes in the foreground.

Fogarty said some of the cocaine was laced with a strong-smelling
mustard powder to disguise its odour and throw off the drug-sniffing
dogs at airports in Vancouver and Toronto.

A cheap-looking green suitcase used for the domestic flights sat on
top of the piles of drugs.

Outside the building was the SUV with Ontario plates that was used by
the Abbotsford group -- with a false floor to hide the cocaine in a
special compartment -- and a second vehicle used by the U.S. supplier
to the Vancouver group.

He said Ledesma posed as someone selling beauty products which could
be used to explain the powder and substances stashed in her luggage.

While drug-sniffer dogs frequent the U.S. and international terminals
of Vancouver International Airport, domestic flights receive less
scrutiny. Scanners focus on weapons and explosives rather than
narcotics, Fogarty said.

One of the American suppliers to the Ledesma group was Victor Ruben
Zamora, a native of Chile who is now a U.S. citizen. Alert employees
of the Canada Border Services Agencies questioned him as he crossed
the border in a Chevrolet sports car with Washington plates last December.

Insp. Kim Scoville said the agents felt Zamora was lying about his
reasons for visiting Canada and decided to search him.

"The search resulted in the detection and seizure of 25 kilogram-size
packages of cocaine that were concealed in the vehicle's seats and
side panels," Scoville said.

Zamora has pleaded guilty and is now serving an eight-year
sentence.

Court records show that months before his border stop, Zamora was
arrested in Surrey for trafficking -- a charge that was outstanding
when he was picked up by police in the latest bust.

Others arrested in the Vancouver group on trafficking charges are
Cesar Maidana, 51, a native of Paraguay who lives in Vancouver, and
Hernan Jacinto Munoz Perez, 41, originally from Costa Rica. A warrant
has been issued for a fifth member of the group, Isaac Richard
Jenkins, 26, who served 30 days for a 2001 trafficking conviction in
Vancouver, according to court records.

An Ontario man, Julio Cesar Reyes Chicon, was arrested and charged
with trafficking in the Abbotsford case. Both Reyes Chicon and
Martinez Marte are natives of the Dominican Republic.

The CFSEU began the investigation in March after receiving
intelligence from the border services agency.

Superintendent Marianne Ryan, the CFSEU officer-in-charge, said B.C.
has become "a major entry point for cocaine smuggled into Canada for
distribution to other major cities and communities throughout the country."

"The size and frequency of these seizures indicates there is a strong
market in Canada," she said.

Fogarty praised the inter-agency cooperation, which included
surveillance and other investigation by the Abbotsford Police,
Vancouver Police drug unit, the CBSA and the CFSEU.

"I think we were able to be so successful due to the great
intelligence we initially received from the Canada Border Services
Agency, and the cooperation among the police forces involved," Fogarty
said.