BURLINGTON RESIDENT AMONG 17 ARRESTED IN ORGANIZED CRIME BUST

Nearly $100-M in drugs, assets seized by police in joint operation spanning
three provinces

A 34-year-old Burlington man is among 17 people charged after police this
week dismantled four alleged organized criminal networks in Hamilton,
Toronto, Montreal and Halifax.

Police services in Ontario, Quebec and Nova Scotia, in addition to various
Canadian and U.S. agencies, report seizing almost $100-million worth of
illegal drugs and more than $8-million in assets Tuesday in simultaneous
searches across the three provinces.

Among the drugs seized is believed to be almost 600 lbs of cocaine, 42 lbs
of hashish, 313 lbs of marijuana and 3,700 pot plants.

Details on the assets seized are protected by a publication ban.

"This operation was the widest police dragnet of organized crime in Canada
in recent history," Linda Martell, an inspector with the Hamilton-Niagara
RCMP detachment, said. "Organized crime no longer works in isolated groups.
(They work in) a complex infrastructure of contacts and networks so they
can work anywhere, anytime."

The 17 people arrested Tuesday face 79 charges; 10 additional warrants have
been issued for the arrests of people allegedly involved in conspiring to
import drugs into Canada.

The youngest person arrested in the group is 24, the oldest is 71.

The Burlington man faces two charges; conspiracy to traffic in a controlled
substance and conspiracy to import a controlled substance.

He was to appear Wednesday in Hamilton court.