Pubdate: Fri, 13 Oct 2006
Source: Windsor Star (CN ON)
Copyright: 2006 The Windsor Star
Contact:  http://www.canada.com/windsor/windsorstar/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/501
Author: Doug Schmidt,Windsor Star
Note: MAP archives articles exactly as published, except that our 
editors may redact the names and addresses of accused persons who 
have not been convicted of a crime, if those named are not otherwise 
public figures or officials

SENIORS, KIDS MOVED DRUGS

Joint RCMP-DEA Effort Smashes Ring That Brought Ecstasy Tablets Across Border

A smuggling ring that used minors and senior citizens as drug mules 
to ferry large quantities of methamphetamine-laced ecstasy tablets 
from Toronto via the Windsor-Detroit tunnel into Michigan was busted 
up by police in a series of raids this week on both sides of the border.

Members of the RCMP drug section in Windsor executed search warrants 
at two residences in Windsor and Tecumseh Wednesday and arrested 10 
people. An additional arrest was made Thursday morning, bringing to 
13 the number of locals among 25 individuals charged as a result of a 
six-month joint investigation led by the RCMP and the U.S. Drug 
Enforcement Administration and including the Canada Border Services 
Agency and the Sterling Heights police department. Two of the 
Canadians charged, brothers [Name redacted]
  and [Name redacted]
, are in jail in Windsor and Ohio, respectively, for unrelated offences.

Law enforcement officials seized about 55,000 ecstasy tablets with an 
estimated street value of more than $1 million.

Const. Annette Bernardon of the Windsor RCMP said the drugs 
originated in Toronto, with Windsor-area individuals holding the 
shipments until arrangements could be made to hire couriers to 
transfer them across the border.

"Every case is important, but this case was especially important -- 
it showed the co-operation between the RCMP and the DEA," said 
Special Agent Carolyn Gibson of the DEA's Detroit field office.

"The message to the drug dealers ... is that there are no borders 
(when it comes to) ridding our streets of these drugs," she said.

Among those facing conspiracy and trafficking charges are [Name 
redacted] , 51, his wife [Name redacted] , 44, and their sons [Name 
redacted] , 29, [Name redacted] , 24, and [Name redacted] , 21.

During the period covered by the police investigation, which relied 
heavily on electronically intercepted telephone conversations, [Name redacted]

was incarcerated at Windsor Jail pending his sentencing on unrelated 
drugs and weapons smuggling charges.

"I was aware of the ongoing investigation involving Mr. Odish during 
his sentencing hearing," said federal Crown attorney Richard Pollock.

Other local residents facing a raft of drug conspiracy, trafficking 
and export charges are: [Name redacted] , 19,[Name redacted] , 21, 
[Name redacted] , 19, [Name redacted] , 30, [Name redacted] , 22, 
[Name redacted] , 19, [Name redacted] , 21, and [Name redacted] , 18, 
all of Windsor.

[Name redacted] is also charged with conspiracy to traffic in 
firearms and trafficking in marijuana, while he and his brother [Name 
redacted] are among several additionally charged with uttering threats.

Three men from the Toronto area and nine Metro Detroit residents are 
also charged.

In one transaction, described in a criminal complaint sworn by a DEA 
agent in U.S. District Court, a Michigan-based drug trafficker placed 
an order for 20,000 ecstasy tablets with her Toronto supplier who had 
it brought to Windsor July 14 by a courier on a train.

The next day, RCMP surveillance officers observed the Canadian mule 
enter a room at the ABC Motel and two males subsequently exit the 
room and get into a Michigan-plated vehicle previously observed by 
the drug squad.

A subsequent search by U.S. border patrol officers at the tunnel 
revealed more than 19,000 ecstasy tablets duct-taped to the legs of 
the two suspects.

The agent's court affidavit details other similar alleged 
transactions arranged by phone and overheard by RCMP officers, 
including a meeting by two Detroit men in their 60s with associates 
of [Name redacted] and [Name redacted] at Casino Windsor on July 28 
that subsequently led to their arrests at the tunnel and the seizure 
of more than 15,000 ecstasy tablets.

The mules drove their own vehicles and were allegedly offered up to 
US$1,000 per person for each trip, but in one documented instance a 
female minor, driving her dad's vehicle, was paid US$200 in advance.

According to the affidavit, she met [Name redacted] through a friend 
and the Windsor man helped tape the tablets to her body at his home 
after convincing her to smuggle the ecstasy.

Those arrested locally appeared in court Thursday to be formally arraigned.

Bernardon said those arrested were not connected to bikers or other 
gangs but represented "a criminal organization working on its own."
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MAP posted-by: Elaine