POLICE SNIFF OUT MAJOR POT RING

Twenty-Six Arrested In Raids; Drugs Produced In Home Grow-Ops
Destined For Ontario, U.S., Police Say

Twenty-six people were rudely awakened yesterday as 350 police
officers busting a drug trafficking ring swept down on homes and
businesses in Quebec and Ontario.

Twenty men and six women were arrested. They are to be charged in
Montreal today with possession of narcotics with the intent to
traffic, conspiracy and gangsterism.

The raids took place at 6:20 a.m. on 30 homes and nine businesses in
Montreal, the North Shore and South Shore, the Laurentians and five
Ontario towns.

Commander Giovanni Di Feo, of the Montreal police organized-crime
division, estimated the drug ring brought in $18 million annually.

Operation Par Avant, a six-month investigation, netted the police 170
kilograms of processed marijuana, 500 living plants, one kilogram of
hashish, $600,000 in U.S. and Canadian funds, three vehicles, five
handguns, three rifles, 16 Taser guns and a bulletproof vest.

Di Feo described the group running the drug distribution as a mix of
Italian and Asian gangs. Nine of those arrested are French or English
Canadian, however. The suspects range in age from 24 to 54.

The raids were planned by the Montreal police organized crime
division. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police, with help from their
Montreal counterparts, conducted the raids in Ontario.

Homes and businesses in Chateauguay, Longueuil, Brossard, Varennes,
Terrebonne and Mascouche were targeted. North of Montreal, there were
busts in Laval, Blainville, Morin Heights, Mille Iles and St. Sauveur.

Police in Ontario searched homes in Cornwall, Bainsville, Guelph,
Toronto and Hamilton.

The marijuana was produced hydroponically, grown indoors under
lights. Commander Jimmy Cacchione, of the Montreal police organized
crime division, refused to reveal whether the grow operations were in
rented homes, as is common practice.

The drugs were shipped three or four times a week in amounts ranging
from about 20 kilograms to 110 kilograms, Di Feo said.

Although produced around Montreal, most of the drugs were destined
for Ontario and the U.S., he said."We consider this an important
network that we have broken up."