DRUG BUST ONE OF THE BIGGEST EVER IN CANADA

Drugs Worth $160 Million Seized

Kingston RCMP, working with police authorities in Central and South
America, put a major dent in organized crime with one of the biggest drug
busts in Canadian history.

As a result of two separate investigations, police seized cocaine with an
estimated street value of $140 and marijuana oil with an estimated value of
$20 million.

The multi-million-dollar haul -- stored in dozens of rubberized duffel bags
and plastic storage bins -- was displayed for the media at a press
conference at the Gardiners Road RCMP headquarters July 5.

Six people are in jail and two have been released on bail in connection
with the investigations.

RCMP officials linked the drug busts to FARC -- the Revolutionary Armed
Forces of Colombia, a guerrilla terrorist group that operates through
murder, kidnapping and terrorism.

"The message is we will chase you to the ends of the earth if you bring
narcotics into our country," stated RCMP Chief Superintendent John
MacLaughlan, criminal operations officer for Ontario.

Police would not identify which organized crime groups are involved in the
drug bust.

"You can't bring in this quantity [of drugs] without organized crime
involved," said MacLaughlan, the number two RCMP official in the province.

Six Quebec residents -- five men and one woman -- have been charged with
numerous narcotics, money laundering and possession of crime offences as a
result of Project Oilcrew, a six-month investigation that led to their arrest.

The suspects are being held at Quinte Detention Centre in Napanee and will
be in court this week.

Two other suspects, both residents of the Turks and Caicos Islands, were
charged in Kingston with drug offences as part of Project Oilsheik, another
investigation.

That thee-year investigation resulted in the seizure of about 1,000
kilograms of marijuana oil in the Kingston area in July, 1999.

Those suspects are out on bail.

The trials will be held in Kingston.

International effort

Working with police services in Costa Rica, Trinidad, Colombia, St.
Vincent, St. Lucia, Panama and the Turks and Caicos Islands, RCMP
investigators involved in Project Oilcrew seized 590 kilograms of cocaine.

"Organized crime was brought to its knees today through the seamless
efforts of police and law enforcement agencies in the Western Hemisphere,"
said MacLaughlan.

In addition, sizeable assets -- including Caribbean island mansions worth
about $9 million (U.S.) -- have been frozen.

Police would not say where the cocaine was seized, only that it was
destined for the Ottawa-Gatineau area.

Some suspects were arrested on Canada's East Coast July 4.

The cocaine represents "about half of all cocaine that came into Canada in
2001," said MacLaughlan. "The marijuana oil seizure is the largest in RCMP
history.

"This is the power of integrated policing on the world stage," he said," a
compelling example of how organized crime can be fought on a global scale
when intelligence and resources are shared."

Kingston was used as a base for a number of meetings by criminals who "felt
they were safe in a smaller community, said MacLaughlan.