Pubdate: Wed, 06 Oct 2010 Source: Vancouver Sun (CN BC) Copyright: 2010 The Vancouver Sun Contact: http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/letters.html Website: http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/477 Author: Kim Bolan, Vancouver Sun 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. POLICE BUST DRUG RING, SEIZE $9 MILLION IN COCAINE AND METH Police have broken up a sophisticated international drug ring that smuggled more than $9 million of cocaine and meth from Mexico hidden in clay bricks and lawn ornaments. Three men -- Mexican [name1 redacted], 32, and Vancouver's [name2 redacted], 51, and [name3 redacted], 42 -- have been charged with conspiracy to import cocaine. None was known to police before the current investigation, which began last June. The men are alleged to have smuggled 275 kilos of cocaine and methamphetamine, baked into paving stones and garden fountains, in seven shipping containers through Port Metro Vancouver. Canada Border Services Agency officers had suspicions about the containers and sent the contents for secondary inspection in early September. When some of the bricks were broken the cocaine was discovered, CBSA official Colleen Pinvidic said. Stacks of meth, cocaine and cash stuffed into clear plastic evidence bags were on display at E Division headquarters in Vancouver on Tuesday. The drug probe is the same one that shut down buses for several hours last week when heavily armed police stopped a vehicle in front of the Vancouver Transit Centre. "We sympathize with the inconvenience that last Monday's police actions may have caused, but trust that people understand how safety and security must always be our first priorities," RCMP Supt. Brian Cantera said Tuesday. Vancouver police were also involved in the Sept. 27 takedown. Cantera, who heads the B.C. drug enforcement branch, declined to comment on which local crime group was working with the accused men. "We are not going to be at liberty to speak [about] where it connects here locally," Cantera said. "The amount and value of drugs and cash in this investigation leaves little doubt that organized crime is involved." Cantera said the investigation also included the execution of search warrants last week to enter a Vancouver warehouse and three residences. [name2 redacted] runs an import company called [business name redacted], according to corporate records. Police said Tuesday they couldn't say where the containers had been shipped from in Mexico. But an online database of international shipping says [name2 redacted]'s company received a 48,000-kilo shipment of "artisans crafts" in September 2010 from Lazaro Cardenas, Mexico. It also says there was a 35,124-kg shipment of decorative floor tiles in August 2009 from Manzanillo, Mexico, to the same Vancouver company. RCMP Staff Sgt. Dave Goddard said police here are working with Mexican officials to determine what cartel supplied the cocaine. Cantera said that while everyone focuses on the high value of the cocaine, the real issue is the damage it could have done if not intercepted. "What really matters here is that over one million doses of illicit drugs will never hurt fathers, mothers, children and those that are mentally ill," Cantera said. But he also told reporters Tuesday that "enforcement alone is not enough. "The RCMP believes in a balanced approach, including education, awareness and enforcement. Raising awareness helps protect individuals from becoming victims," he said. - --- MAP posted-by: Jo-D