MONTREAL CORNER STORE BUSTED FOR POT

Marijuana Harder To Find For Patients At Nunavik House

Complaints from Nunavimmiut staying at Nunavik House in Montreal's
Notre-Dame-de-Grace district have led to a dope bust at a corner store
not far from the patient residence.

Police learned the dingy corner store was carrying on a booming trade
in snacks, beer and $10 bags of grass -- to a mainly Inuit clientele.

"When you go to Paris, you go to see the Eiffel Tower; when you go to
Nunavik House, you would stop by there and buy two grams [of pot] for
20 bucks," said Russell St-Germain of the Montreal Urban Police.

But on May 16, police from the Montreal-based Combined Aboriginal
Forces Special Enforcement Unit and the MUP moved in to stop the
illegal business.

Police arrived at the Depanneur RYK located at 5781 Upper Lachine Road
around 7 p.m. and searched the premises.

Police found a stash of marijuana in the store's back fridge, which
was packaged for sale, as well as an additional quantity of grass
within easy reach under the counter in the front.

A total of 205 of grams was seized. Police also found and seized about
$1,500 in cash.

Owner Mampulli Ramakrishnan, 50, faces trafficking charges.

An undercover agent had purchased drugs from the owner. This allowed
police to request and receive a search warrant.

Since 2004, Montreal police had been receiving information about the
store's drug-trafficking sideline.

However, the case was put aside because it wasn't as urgent as many
other life-threatening situations.

Then, Montreal police learned that the corner store's trafficking was
having an impact in Nunavik from the joint aboriginal unit's Giovanna
Taddeo, who is on loan to the unit from the Kativik Regional Police
Force.

"Here, we don't know what's going on in the North, but we know now it
has a large impact there. We let the owner know that the reason he was
arrested is that he is selling to Inuit. He said he doesn't want their
business any more," St-Germain said.

Nunavik house and the neighbouring Hampton House, which provide
lodging for patients and escorts from Nunavik, have a zero drug and
alcohol policy.