CHAMPION BOXER TIED TO DRUG RING

Red Deer Man Has Multiple Provincial Titles

A 20-year-old champion boxer from Red Deer is one of the nine men
arrested recently during a year-long police investigation into a major
drug trafficking network based out of Calgary.

Cameron O'Connell has multiple provincial titles and a national
championship to his credit, according to a Red Deer boxing website,
and was a 2007 world champion in an amateur tournament called Ringside.

O'Connell now faces two drug-related charges connected to what police
call a highly sophisticated cocaine network that moved drugs across
the country.

News of O'Connell's arrest has stunned the president of the Red Deer
Boxing Club, where the boxer trained.

Rob Carswell said he's bewildered by the charges and cannot believe
O'Connell was involved in drug crime.

"I can't believe that Cam's got anything to do with drug trafficking.
There's just no way, is my first opinion," Carswell said.

O'Connell has been touted as a top amateur boxer in Alberta, and has
won several western Canadian championships, according to a website.

"He's an excellent boxer," Carswell said.

During their investigation into the drug trafficking network, police
also arrested the suspected head of the operation. Ryan Harper, 31,
faces 26 charges.

Police said the drug network was based out of Calgary, but moved
between 30 and 50 kilograms of cocaine a month across Canada, with the
operation extending from Vancouver to Newfoundland.

The police operation netted 11 kilograms of cocaine worth an estimated
$1.5 million.

The operation was sophisticated, police said, with cocaine being
transported inside secret compartments of vehicles.

In one case, police seized a Ford truck fitted with a secret
compartment behind the dash that could be opened with an electronic
key.

On Wednesday, police showed pictures of packaged cocaine that was
covered with cayenne pepper and Bounce laundry sheets so police dogs
wouldn't sniff out the drugs.

"People within the community don't realize the extent that organized
criminals go to avoid detection," said Insp. Kevin Forsen, with the
Calgary Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit.