JOINT UNIT BUSTS POT RING

12 Arrested, $500gs In Assets Seized After Two-year Police Probe

CORNWALL -- Police dealt a crippling blow to four criminal organizations
involved in cross-border marijuana smuggling during a blitz yesterday that
netted about $500,000 in seized assets. Two years of police work with
collaboration from 12 police agencies in Ontario, Quebec and the U.S. came
to a climax yesterday as officers executed 10 searches in Montreal,
Cornwall, Akwesasne and northern New York.

Police nabbed 12 people without incident during the early morning raids and
have arrest warrants for nine others.

The suspects hold various ranks in the criminal organizations, ranging from
cell leaders, to suppliers, to runners, to street-level drug dealers.

Police seized more than 70 lbs. of marijuana, large quantities of "magic"
mushrooms, about $30,000 in Canadian currency and about $30,000 in American
currency, luxury cars, motorcycles, a backhoe, boats, Ski-doos, all-terrain
vehicles and several properties.

WEAPONS FOUND

During a raid in St-Calixte, Que., police seized a loaded .40-calibre
handgun, two assault rifles, including 10 magazines and 1,000 rounds of
ammunition.

In 2002, the Cornwall Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit launched
Project Outstay based on information obtained by New York State Police
which indicated a Canadian smuggling ring was exporting marijuana to the
Syracuse and New York City areas.

The joint unit -- composed of members of the RCMP, OPP, Cornwall police,
Akwesasne Mohawk police and Canada Border Services Agency -- identified
three criminal organizations involved in the acquisition of marijuana in
Quebec and the transport of the drugs to Cornwall. The drugs were then
smuggled into the U.S. through the Akwesasne region.

A parallel investigation by the unit and the Drug Enforcement
Administration in Plattsburgh, N.Y., resulted in the dismantlement of a
fourth criminal organization involved in importing and exporting drugs.

Insp. Tim Mackin, the officer in charge of the unit, said the raids will
have a significant impact on the targeted criminal organizations.

"We have to continue our efforts," he said.

"It's not something we can say 'we have finished this investigation now
it's not going to happen again' and we have to continue through education
to reduce the demand for this product."