PEARSON CLEANERS CHARGED IN DRUG SEIZURE

10 Arrested: $8m Worth Believed To Have Been Smuggled On Jamaican Flights

TORONTO - Six Air Canada cleaners at Pearson International Airport were
charged yesterday with attempting to smuggle cocaine and hashish into
Canada in airliner walls and bathrooms.

A total of 10 people were charged in the ring, which brought drugs into
Pearson from Jamaican flights for close to a year.

About 100 kilograms of drugs were seized -- 40 kilos each of cocaine and
hash, and another 20 of hash oil. Police estimated its value at $8-million.

None of the drugs got through, police said, but the smugglers never got
suspicious. ''They didn't catch on so quick," said Inspector John Neily,
commander of the RCMP's Toronto Airport Drug Enforcement Unit.

The RCMP said the Toronto ground crew recruited friends or business
acquaintances among airport workers in Jamaica to stow the drugs aboard the
planes.

The Toronto cleaners -- known as groomers -- allegedly planned to sell the
drugs to street dealers, police said.

"The integral part of this were the Air Canada employees," said Inspector
Neily.

"This organization could not have existed without [the groomers'] access to
secure areas of the airport."

The ring was discovered during a routine check in March when authorities
found between one and two kilograms of hidden cocaine, hash and hash oil.

Airport officials, who began watching members of the ground crew, found
drugs stowed in nooks and crannies on 17 more flights over the next 11 months.

Staff Sergeant Bill Matheson, another senior officer in the RCMP airport
drug unit, said drug importers often expect to lose part of their shipment.

"These people know that Canada Customs routinely check these panels and
check the interior of the plane. If Customs finds it, it's a loss and they
write it off as a loss."

Staff Sergeant Matheson admitted ring members may have brought drugs into
Canada through other means, as it is unlikely they would be content to lose
their entire investment.

Early yesterday, drug officers arrested the 10 alleged ring members at
residences throughout the Toronto area. Four of those charged in the ring
were ''associates'' of the cleaners, police said.

During one arrest, at a house in Brampton, a suspect -- one of the Air
Canada workers -- pointed a loaded handgun at one officer, but he was
quickly wrestled to the ground.

Two more men are being sought on warrants: an alleged Jamaican connection
who lives in Montego Bay, and another Toronto suspect.

The 10 are charged with conspiracy to import a controlled substance, and
importing a controlled substance. One man also faces a charge of pointing a
firearm.