QUEBEC MAN ALLEGED BOSS OF US$1B DRUG OPERATION

U. S. authorities say a drug network led by a 23-year-old Quebec man
nicknamed "Goofy" moved nearly US$1-billion worth of drugs into the
United States from Canada through a native reserve and a secluded
border crossing in Quebec.

Eight Canadian residents, including Steven Sarti of Brossard, Que.,
the alleged boss, are named in a U. S. federal indictment unsealed
yesterday along with five U. S. residents charged after a two-year
police probe called Operation Iron Curtain.

"Sarti organized and implemented a sophisticated scheme to smuggle
narcotics and currency across the United States border into and from
Canada. Principally, the organization delivered large quantities of
marijuana on a weekly basis to various narcotics dealers in New York,
Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, Massachusetts and other locations, in
exchange for large sums of United States currency," the indictment alleges.

"Sarti was responsible for co-ordinating shipments of narcotics from
the organization's sources of supply in Canada, arranging for
transportation of the narcotics across the Canadian border,
delivering the narcotics to the organization's customers and
smuggling currency from the United States into Canada for payment to
the organization's sources of supply."

The group usually made its border runs using rental vehicles carrying
marijuana in heat-sealed bags labelled with the type of marijuana and
then placed in large hockey bags. The group marketed different types
under names that included Mango, Pink Haze, Super Jack, Bubblecious,
Sour Grape and Diesel, authorities said.

Authorities estimated the groups moved about US$250-million worth of
drugs each year for the past four years.

Much of the marijuana moved through a compound on the Akwesasne
reserve -- which spans the Ontario-Quebec-New York borders -- owned
by Richard Todd Adams, 35, of Summerton, Ont., who is also known by
the nickname "Acid Adams," according to authorities.

The marijuana was taken across the St. Lawrence River by boat or
snowmobile, depending on the season.

The ring also used a secluded, rural area near Churubusco, N. Y.,
about 80 kilo-metres south of Montreal, where Canadians dressed in
camouflaged clothing carried hockey bags of marijuana by foot through
the woods to a truck waiting on the U. S. side.

The couriers were typically paid between $50 and $70 for each pound
of marijuana successfully delivered.

The ring's activities ended on June 10, shortly before the arrest of
Mr. Sarti in Vermont. He remains in jail awaiting trial.

Yesterday, authorities executed several warrants and took alleged
co-conspirators into custody.

Most of the men are charged with conspiracy to possess with intend to
distribute more than 1,000 kilograms of marijuana and conspiracy to
import more than 1,000 kilograms of the drug.

Mr. Sarti and five other Canadians are also charged with conspiracy
to launder money. As the alleged boss, Mr. Sarti, and his alleged
right-hand man, Edward "The Russian" Kener, 31, of Florida, are
charged with conducting a continuing criminal enterprise.