Zelaron Gaming Forum - More than 65 arrested in reputed Canadian-American drug smuggling ring

More than 65 arrested in reputed Canadian-American drug smuggling ring

TORONTO -- More than 65 people, including six executives of three Canadian chemical companies, have been arrested for alleged participation in a massive drug smuggling ring, the RCMP and U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration announced Tuesday.

The agencies allege the ring was smuggling large quantities of a key component of methamphetamine - commonly known as speed - from Canada into the United States. The investigation revealed that massive quantities of pseudoephedrine were being manufactured in Montreal and stockpiled in Ottawa, the RCMP said Tuesday in a release.

The chemical was then smuggled into the United States through various border crossings in Quebec and Ontario.

Most of the bulk pseudoephedrine shipments from Canada entered the U.S. through Detroit in tractor-trailer trucks often hidden beneath "cover loads" of legitimate products like bottled water and bubble gum, police said.

Thousands of kilograms of pseudoephedrine were seized, the agencies said.

The quantity of pseudoephedrine seized in Ottawa alone could have produced 300 million individual doses of speed, the RCMP said.

Arrests were made in Detroit, Chicago, Los Angeles, Riverside, Calif., New York, Cincinnati, Gulfport, Miss., and Vancouver, as well as Montreal and Ottawa, police said.

The RCMP charged 11 people with conspiracy to export pseudoephedrine to the U.S.

"This investigation was an international effort targeting organizations that smuggled pseudoephedrine directly from corporations in Canada into the United States through the Detroit/Windsor border crossing," the DEA said in a release.

As part of the investigation, agents targeted six executives from the Canadian chemical companies G.C. Medical Products, Formulex, and Frega, Inc., the DEA said.

"Today, you have witnessed the power of integrated policing," said Chief Raf Souccar, RCMP director general of drugs and organized crime.

"As criminal organizations do not respect borders, it takes true co-operation between law enforcement in our respective countries to bring transnational criminal organizations to justice."

Smuggling pseudoephedrine can be a profitable business, the DEA said.

One box of Canadian pseudoephedrine containing 80,000 60 milligram tablets can be purchased in Canada for approximately $900 US, the agency said.

After going through two to three brokers, that box of pseudoephedrine would be sold to speed manufacturers in California for $18,000 to $20,000.

The New York indictment charges that some of these alleged pseudoephedrine brokers were assisted in laundering their drug proceeds by two people who transferred the proceeds through bank accounts in the Middle East.