Pubdate: Wed, 22 Jun 2005 Source: Mississauga News (CN ON) Copyright: The Mississauga News 2005 Contact: http://www.mississauganews.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/268 Author: Louie Rosella AIR CANADA EMPLOYEE KEY PLAYER IN SMUGGLING RING Drugs Hidden On Planes A Mississauga man who used his job at Air Canada to become a major player in an international smuggling ring has been found guilty of trafficking and importing drugs. The 12 jurors deliberated for nearly two days before finding 37-year-old Allan Quidley guilty on five of seven criminal charges he was facing in connection with a smuggling ring that operated in 1999 and 2000. He was a key player in a ring that smuggled millions of dollars of illegal narcotics through Pearson International Airport, according to prosecutors. Quidley was convicted of conspiracy to import cocaine and hashish, trafficking and importing cocaine and importing hashish. The jury acquitted Quidley on one count of importing hashish, while jury members were hung on a charge of importing cocaine. Quidley will remain in custody until he is sentenced Aug. 12 in Brampton court. Throughout the month-long trial that wrapped up last week, Federal Crown Prosecutor Kelly Gorman said Quidley was a key player in a drug smuggling operation that saw airplane "groomers" remove drugs had been hidden in the walls and ceilings of planes arriving in Mississauga from Montego Bay and Kingston, Jamaica in 1999 and 2000. In the airport industry, an employee who boards and cleans planes between flights is known as a groomer. Quidley was among more than a dozen people charged in November of 2000. Gorman told jurors during Quidley's trial the scheme was "ingenious but simple," and also involved drug couriers from Jamaica. The mules boarded flights in Kingston and Montego Bay carrying large quantities of drugs and hid them during the flight in ceiling and wall panels of aircraft washrooms. The drugs were later retrieved by groomers, Gorman said. An anonymous tip led to a joint investigation by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and Canada Customs officers, who seized $10 million worth of drugs, the prosecutor said. The key prosecution witness was Jeff Cahill, a former Air Canada cleaner who took part in the drug smuggling. He was granted immunity in return for testifying against Quidley. Cahill said the operation was earning him $50,000 a month. - --- MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin