Louis Pasquin is believed to be the first lawyer in Canada to be convicted of gangsterism.

Louis Pasquin is believed to be the first lawyer in Canada to be convicted of gangsterism.Pasquin looked shocked as he heard the verdict, which was delivered by Quebec court Judge Carol St-Cyr after nine months of deliberation.Pasquin, 49, has been a lawyer for more than 20 years and has also represented members of the Montreal Mafia.St-Cyr said Pasquin's explanations during testimony didn't hold water.
"Your testimony did not withstand analysis, is unlikely and not credible," the judge said.St-Cyr said he didn't believe Pasquin when he said he was unaware of the activities of two other men arrested in the case."The caution he used in his conversations and the cryptic language show that contrary to his assertions he knew perfectly well about their activities," St-Cyr said.Evidence at Pasquin's trial suggested he acted as a liaison between a drug ring leader and a pilot who allegedly made cocaine runs.

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Giuseppe Coluccio, a suspected drug trafficker, who has been on the run since 2005.

Giuseppe Coluccio, a suspected drug trafficker, who has been on the run since 2005. The country's defense minister, Ignazio La Russa, said the arrest showed authorities were making advances in the fight against organised crime."Coluccio had lived happily in Canada thanks to the (support) provided by the Calabrian clans – a situation that shows the extraordinary reach of the 'Ndrangheta," public prosecutor Giuseppe Pignatone was quoted by Italian media as saying. Italy's ANSA news agency reported that police found $1 million in checks at Coluccio's home.
Canadian Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day said in a statement late on Thursday that Coluccio was arrested near Toronto on a Canada-wide immigration warrant and is wanted by Italy for drug-related offenses.'Ndrangheta, based in the southern Calabria region, has reportedly overtaken Sicily's Cosa Nostra to become the most powerful Italian crime group.

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Guy Lepage, a former police officer now serving a 10-year sentence for drug trafficking

Guy Lepage, a former police officer now serving a 10-year sentence for drug trafficking, he was drawn into the biker's life of crime 20 years ago.
Mr. Lepage, 61, discussed his past relationship with the biker leader Maurice (Mom) Boucher yesterday during a parole board hearing.He was granted day parole, his first release since being arrested in 2001 and extradited to the U.S., where he pleaded guilty to helping the Angels buy large quantities of cocaine from a Colombian drug cartel and ship it to Florida in 1997 and 1998. He was transferred to a Canadian prison in 2005.Lepage was granted day parole for the next six months, during which he is expected to take part in community projects. He was accepted into a program working with the elderly, and said he plans to lecture at schools that teach criminology.
Mr. Lepage said that despite his important involvement in their conspiracies, he never considered himself part of the Hells Angels, but he did acknowledge being Mr. Boucher's friend."I don't know if it was his charm or something else. He had this charisma," he said of Mr. Boucher, who is serving three life sentences for ordering the deaths of prison guards in an attempt to influence Quebec's justice.Lepage, 61, discussed his past relationship with the Hells Angels leader at length yesterday during a National Parole Board hearing at a minimum-security penitentiary in Laval. He was granted day parole, his first release since being arrested in December 2001 and extradited to the United States, where he pleaded guilty to helping the Hells Angels buy cocaine from a Colombian drug cartel and ship more than 1,600 kilograms of the drug to Florida in 1997 and 1998. He was transferred back to the Canadian prison system in 2005.The drugs were destined for Montreal while the city witnessed a bloody biker gang war. Lepage was sent to Colombia by Boucher and other members of the Hells Angels to oversee five large shipments of the drug.
Lepage told parole board members Denis Couillard and Michel Pallascio that despite his involvement with the bikers, he never considered himself part of the Hells Angels. But he did acknowledge being Boucher's friend.Even though they grew up in the same neighbourhood in eastern Montreal, the two only met in 1987, Lepage said. At the time, Lepage was running a disco in Sorel and Boucher was beginning his ascent toward becoming the most powerful Hells Angel in Quebec.Couillard asked Lepage to explain how one can go from protecting society as a police officer to being someone who thinks nothing of breaking its laws."How did you go from one extreme to the other?" he asked.Lepage explained that the Hells Angels put him "on a pedestal" and made him feel important. It was clear his experience as a police officer and good name were valuable assets to Boucher."I don't know if it was his charm or something else. He had this charisma," Lepage said of Boucher, who is serving three life sentences for ordering the deaths of prison guards in an attempt to intimidate Quebec's justice system."It's hard to explain. (The Hells Angels) sought me out by giving me gifts, taking me out to dinner. It gave me value. It impressed me. To be frank, I never questioned it."After the two became friends, Boucher began asking Lepage for favours. One involved securing a mortgage for a building the Rockers, a Hells Angels puppet gang, used as a fortified bunker during the biker war. Lepage, who resigned from Montreal's police force in 1974 while a friend was being investigated for fraud, obtained the mortgage through a federal government program.Lepage also helped the Hells Angels set up a money-laundering network in northern British Colombia, to which he pleaded guilty in 1994. He was sentenced two years in prison and fined $200,000. He was given three years to pay, but so far has only paid $30,000. Because of this, in 2006, a seizure order was placed on real estate Lepage owns in St. Philippe, a South Shore town.
Lepage said yesterday that months after his arrest in 2001, he promised his family he would sever ties with Boucher. The only time he showed emotion during the parole hearing was when Couillard brought up an allegation concerning Boucher contained in Lepage's file. Couillard said a letter sent to Boucher after 2001 by another criminal included a mention that Lepage wished to send along his greetings.Lepage called the allegation nonsense. His lawyer, Jacques Normandeau, pointed out that Boucher is still kept in isolation at the so-called super-maximum-security penitentiary in Ste. Anne des Plaines and is only allowed visits by two individuals, who were not named.

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Krystle Dawn Mitchelitis,Charles Matthew Cook,Rejean Arsenault,Robert Vezina charged with possession of cocaine

Three bricks of the drug with a total weight of 3,352 grams were seized in a room at the Cambridge Suites, Monday night, after police executed a search warrant. The amount the drug carries an estimated street value of $670,000, more than double the amount of the police’s largest seizure of $250,000 last week.
“This has been an ongoing investigation that the street crime unit has been undertaking for the last couple of months in regards to cocaine, its distribution and its source locations,” said Staff Sgt. Paul Jobe. “We figure this will have a substantial impact on the streets, but it’s not long-term, we have to keep up.”
Four males and one female were arrested; one from Sydney, three from Quebec and one from Toronto. Police reported Tuesday that another suspect in the case remains at large.
Five people appeared in provincial court Tuesday charged with possession of cocaine for the purpose of trafficking and conspiracy to traffic in cocaine.
The five are: Charles Matthew Cook, 22, George Street, Sydney; Rejean Arsenault, 52, Pointe Fortune, Que.; Robert Vezina, 58, LaSalle, Que.; Michael Giordano, 41, Saint-Lazare, Que.; and Krystle Dawn Mitchelitis, 19, Toronto.
Federal prosecutor David Iannetti opposed the release of the five who were remanded into custody until Thursday for bail hearings for Giordano, Cook and Mitchelitis and status hearings for Arsenault and Vezina, who have asked for bail hearings in French.
Arsenault will be represented by a lawyer from Quebec.
While the investigation continues, Chief Dave Wilson expressed concerns the drugs may be tied to organized crime.
“My best guess is yes,” said Wilson, when asked about the operation being the work of organized crime. “Until we complete the investigation we won’t know for sure.
“I think it’s a possibility because there are so many Cape Bretoners right now going to work transient wise, so they are all across the country and they are making these contacts, contacts with people who are working in the criminal world and coming back here they have a connection to bring the stuff in.”
With two substantial seizures in the past seven days, Jobe said the months of work by the street crime unit is beginning to show great successes.
“This is all based on investigative techniques and getting into the bowels of the drug trade,” he said. “We’ve started off at the street level, now the officers have targeted the major seizures at the higher level and we will continue.”
The large amount of cocaine being seized by police continues to support the theory that the drug has become the drug of choice in Cape Breton, a trend which bothers Jobe.
“Since I’ve been here I’ve seen cocaine become the drug of choice and hashish is almost non-existent on the street today as opposed to a number of years ago when (hashish) was the drug of choice,” said Jobe. “We’re living in an advanced age and we’ve seen the OxyContin age when that was a very serious drug on the street. We’ve now gone to cocaine and my only fear is what’s coming next.”

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In the Comfort Zone Hedge fund manager Matthew MacIsaac of MM Asset Management Inc had been charged with conspiracy to traffic cocaine.

Mr. MacIsaac, ranked among Canada's most successful fund managers, had been charged with conspiracy to traffic cocaine.
He was among 33 people arrested after police raided a bar called the Comfort Zone at 4:30 a.m. on a Sunday. Sources say Mr. MacIsaac, who lives in a nearby loft, tried to explain the $600 in cash in his pockets to police by saying: "I'm a hedge fund manager."The arrest came after a six-week investigation known as Project White Rabbit, a probe that began when a 26-year-old Hamilton man died of an accidental overdose after allegedly purchasing drugs at the Comfort Zone. Police seized heroin, cocaine, ecstasy and GHB - known as the date rape drug - valued at $30,000 at the club, along with $35,000 cash."Drugs were being used openly; drugs were being sold openly," said Toronto Detective Sergeant Ed Roseto.Over two weeks, MM Asset Management repeatedly denied any involvement by an executive with the firm, until Mr. MacIsaac's lawyer, Austin Cooper, confirmed Friday that his client works at the hedge fund, and had been charged. He said the fund manager, who is free on bail, has yet to enter a plea.MM Asset Management executive Ben Cubitt insisted two weeks ago that the Mr. MacIsaac who serves as the fund's secretary was not the same Mr. MacIsaac charged after the raid. Mr. MacIsaac's first lawyer, Lenny Hochberg, declined to comment when asked if he was representing the same Mr. MacIsaac who worked at the fund.Mr. Cooper quickly confirmed the affiliation when he was asked on Friday. He also said there had been no attempt to hide the information.
"He is a good man," Mr. Cooper said. "I'm afraid that he was in the wrong place at the wrong time, and that police made a sweep and arrested everybody in the place. Of course, we are going to defend him vigorously."
Mr. MacIsaac likely earned $3-million last year. He and partner Hillel Meltz, MM Asset Management's president, and two remaining colleagues at the $300-million fund would have split $10-million of performance-based fees on a fund that returned 17 per cent for investors.
Through his lawyer, Mr. MacIsaac declined to be interviewed. Mr. Meltz was unavailable last week.
A rival fund manager said Mr. MacIsaac is building a sprawling cottage near Tofino, on Vancouver Island. MM Asset Management runs what's known as an event-driven fund called MMCap Fund Inc. that plays takeovers and other stock market moves. It has stakes in a number of small Canadian resource companies. The fund was launched in 2002 and has among the highest returns in the industry, with 20-per-cent plus performance in five of the past six years and two years of 40-per-cent-plus returns.
Among its backers are Arrow Hedge Partners Inc., a well-known fund-of-funds manager that has $20-million invested. Sources say Toronto-based MM Asset Management has told its institutional and wealthy individual clients about the charges against Mr. MacIsaac. Investors in the fund say Mr. Meltz flew back from his home in Israel to help deal with the issue. "These guys are great traders, they've put up great numbers. Obviously, though, this problem is a setback,' said one investor in MM Asset Management.The "setback" began with a St. Patrick's Day celebration that saw Mr. MacIsaac attend two parties before heading to the Comfort Zone club about 4 a.m., sources said. He took about $800 out of bank machines for the evening and had $600 in his pocket when he was arrested. There were 150 people in the club at the time.He was allegedly approached for drugs by the undercover police officer, a source said. Mr. MacIsaac allegedly tracked down some drugs and gave them to her. When she insisted on paying him, he allegedly refused.
The hedge fund filed a report on charges facing Mr. MacIsaac with the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) a few days after the arrest, sources said. The regulator must be notified if a registered company executive is charged with a criminal offence. The OSC put out a notice last Thursday stating that Mr. MacIsaac's registration - which is needed for him to manage money - is now being reviewed monthly, rather than undergoing the typical annual review. MM Asset Management's principals started their careers at Connecticut-based K2 Advisors LLC, a large U.S. hedge fund that states on its website that it "adheres to the highest standards of ethical conduct in an era of increased scrutiny and transparency."

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Haresh Kutappan was sentenced to four years in prison last week for dealing drugs

Haresh Kutappan was sentenced to four years in prison last week for dealing drugs out of his Halifax apartment.The 30-year-old native of Malaysia came to Canada on a student visa in 1997. He lived in British Columbia for a few years, earned a computer science degree and later moved to Halifax in hopes of finding employment.But he soon lost his job at a local call centre and found himself without work or a place to live.That’s when the young man started selling drugs to survive.
The career choice was lucrative but short-lived.Police arrested Mr. Kutappan on Oct. 4 for remaining in the country after his student visa had expired. The arrest led to a search of his Robie Street apartment and the discovery of Mr. Kutappan’s drug stash.Officers seized about 1,100 grams of marijuana, 85 grams of powdered cocaine,15 grams of magic mushrooms and 281 ecstasy pills. They also seized $11,150 and various drug paraphernalia, including packaging material, measuring devices and score sheets.At first, Mr. Kutappan pleaded not guilty to the four counts of possession for the purpose of trafficking.But on Feb. 27 he changed his plea because the judge dismissed the argument that his charter rights were violated during the police search.The usual punishment for selling large amounts of cocaine ranges between two and five years in prison.In this case, federal Crown attorney Tim McLaughlin asked for a sentence on the higher end of the scale, while defence lawyer Brad Sarson argued for a term of incarceration between three and four years.
Justice Robert Wright of Nova Scotia Supreme Court decided on four years in prison, which equates to 38 months after time served is factored in.
The judge noted that Mr. Kutappan had no prior criminal record but said "nonetheless the courts must send the message that there will be serious penal consequences for those who choose to engage in such a nefarious trade, which inflicts such widespread damage to our communities."Because of his immigrant status, Mr. Kutappan is not eligible for day parole. Upon his release from prison, he will be immediately deported to Malaysia

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Dennis Paul Paddison, Kelsey Nerbas,Matthew Reed,Dereck Hotner, Dale Handlen drug bust in Australia involving a shipping container from Canada.

Australian police say they expect more arrests will be made here in Canada following this week's huge drug bust in Brisbane involving more than $30 million worth of cocaine and ecstasy. Five B.C. men and an Australian face drug smuggling charges after being arrested in the capital of the state of Queensland on Wednesday.
The seized computer monitors, some of which contained cocaine and ecstasy in a shipment from B.C. Australian customs officials found the drugs on Sept. 8, stuffed into computer monitors in a shipping container that originated in the Lower Mainland.
Bruce Hill, who is in charge of international operations for the Australian Federal Police, told CBC News that he believes more arrests are imminent."We have a federal police officer from Washington in Canada working closely with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. I'm sure, as a result of that, we'll definitely get some very good results out of this."Australian suspect known to police
Hill says the mastermind behind the cocaine import scheme is a well-known organized crime figure in Sydney.
"We will allege in court that he was the intended recipient and financier of this operation from the Australian side. Now we've got inquiries going in Canada to try and establish who the principals are over there."

The five B.C. men arrested in Brisbane have been identified as Dennis Paul Paddison, 40, of Abbotsford; Dereck Hotner, 34, also of Abbotsford;,, 40; Matthew Reed, 26; and Kelsey Nerbas, 28. Nerbas, who had been living in Australia, is a former resident of Kelowna, B.C.All five remain in custody and are next scheduled to appear in court in November. The smuggling charges carry a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.
This is the second recent drug bust in Australia involving a shipping container from Canada.
Four months ago, Australian authorities seized 1.2 million ecstasy tablets from a container in Melbourne, and arrested one man in Melbourne and three men in Sydney.
Michael Carmody, the CEO of the Australian Customs Service, says the two sets of arrests should serve as a warning.
"It does seem that people believe that by shipping goods through what would be seen as a friendly benign country in this area, they thought that they would avoid our scrutiny, and they haven't, and that's probably a message for others who might like to try that."

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Norman Longmoore ecstasy pills laced with methamphetamine

23-year-old Norman Longmoore, of East Ryegate, is accused of selling ecstasy pills laced with methamphetamine.

Last week police arrested a St. Johnsbury man for selling that drug.
Investigators say ecstasy pills laced with methamphetamine are being smuggled across the border from Canada.

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June Minnie Flett

June Minnie Flett, 31, is wanted on a Canada-wide warrant for parole violation. Sentenced to four years, one month for prostitution, robbery and drug possession in May 2004, she was given statutory release Dec. 4, 2007, after serving two-thirds of her time. Her release was revoked Jan. 11.

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Ranjit Singh Cheema ,Saliendra Narayan

A pair of accused drug traffickers wanted in the United States has lost their fight against extradition.
US authorities say Ranjit Singh Cheema and Saliendra Narayan were part of an international heroin ring.
Today, the Supreme Court of Canada refused to hear their appeal against extradition.
It's not yet clear when the pair would be forced to return to the United States.

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Dr. Sean Buckingham

Justice James Adams sentenced Buckingham to seven years and nine months in jail for sexual assault, assault and drug trafficking, but not before issuing some harsh words to the St. John's physician.
Adams slammed Buckingham for using his "privileged position" as a doctor to abuse his patients and breach their trust.
"Violence can take on many forms ... and I consider this to be a violent crime, even though he did not beat them up," Adams said.
"Instead, he beat them down."
Since Buckingham has already spent nearly five months in jail, Adams gave him credit for roughly double time (as is customary in the justice system) and deducted nine months from the sentence.
Buckingham must also submit a DNA sample and will be listed on Canada's sex offender registry. He is also prohibited from owning any firearms for 10 years after his release from jail.
He showed no emotion and said nothing as he was led out of the courtroom in handcuffs.
The 47-year-old was found guilty Dec. 10 of 12 of 18 charges of sexual assault, assault and drug trafficking by a jury of six men and six women.
Several of Buckingham's female former patients had testified during the two-month trial, each offering disturbing testimony about how the doctor crossed the line by demanding sexual favours in return for prescription drugs, like OxyContin and Lorazepam.

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Thuan Van Ha

Thuan Van Ha, 42, was sentenced in October to serve two years less a day in the community for convictions of drug production and possession of marijuana for the purpose of trafficking.
Ha was placed on electronic monitoring for the first eight months of the conditional sentence.
The Crown had asked for 18 months in jail.
Ha was charged after police found about 250 marijuana plants at various stages of growth inside his home on the 900 block of Rae Street.
On Thursday, agent for the federal Crown, Doug Curliss, argued the sentencing judge erred in imposing the community-based sentence by not taking the circumstances of the case, nor case law, into full consideration.
Curliss said Ha accrued a gambling debt and, despite making good money as a welder, decided the best way to deal with the debt was by starting a grow op. As part of that grow op, Ha caused damage to his house and stole electricity from SaskPower, Curliss said.
In asking for the court to consider overturning the sentence, Curliss told Justices William Vancise, Gene Anne Smith and Darla Hunter that grow ops are a serious problem in the community, with many growers seeing it as "quick and easy money."

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Thomaz Nataluk

Thomaz Nataluk, 22, whom court heard yesterday was allegedly one of Manitoba's most significant cocaine dealers with ties to organized crime in B.C., was granted bail yesterday by Justice John Scurfield, who imposed strict conditions on the man.
"I'm taking a chance on you because you're a young man who had no criminal history prior to this," Scurfield told Nataluk in court. "You've got to be absolutely straight."
Crown prosecutor Chris Mainella accused Nataluk yesterday of being "the triple threat," as an alleged multi-kilogram level drug dealer, arms dealer and crack cooker.
Police arrested Nataluk last June following a dust-up on Broadway during which time he allegedly elbowed one cop in the forehead.
Cops found two one-kilogram bricks of 80% pure cocaine in his Jeep, as well as a $27,000, 18-karat gold Swiss Breitling watch on his wrist.
They also found more than $500,000 cash in his downtown apartment -- much of it in packaged bundles in the fridge next to normal food like chip dip and juice -- as well as 12 kg of powdered cocaine and crack in the suite next door, which Mainella called a "crack factory."
Some of the cocaine bricks found there were stamped with the same "2706" mark found on the two bricks recovered from the Jeep.
Also in the neighbouring suite was a gym bag containing 14 guns, including two M-11 9-mm compact submachine guns, often called MAC-11s. All the guns were vacuum sealed in plastic, which Mainella said is often a sign they were freshly smuggled into Canada. The Crown pegged the street value of the guns at between $18,000 and $23,000
Nataluk was charged with 62 offences, and at the time of his arrest, Winnipeg police said they could not remember officers in Manitoba ever seizing such a quantity of drugs, guns and cash all at once

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Abdula Fauthwla ( Polla Banan )

During the 1980s, Norwegian police issued an arrest warrant for Fauthwla on charges of heroin trafficking, possession of weapons and ammunition, possession of poisons and other charges.
Norwegian Police, though, lost track of the suspect before he could be arrested and he fled the country. Police now believe Fauthwla somehow made his way to Canada under an assumed name, filing a refugee claim as Polla Banan and eventually gaining Canadian citizenship under that name. Since then, he's lived under the radar.
It's not clear how authorities uncovered Fauthwla's real identity. All CBSA would say is that Fauthwla was ordered deported on July 31, 2007 for misrepresenting himself and that a warrant for his arrest was issued at that time.
He is being held at Maplehurst Detention Centre pending a review by a the Immigration and Refugee Board

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false roof compartment of a Canadian truck

U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers here seized $373,000 and 127 pounds of marijuana concealed in a false roof compartment of a Canadian truck. The truck and trailer arrived at the port of entry Saturday night at 8 p.m. carrying a shipment of aluminum railing components bound for California.
CBP officers referred the truck/trailer for a Vehicle and Cargo Inspection System (VACIS) x-ray type examination which revealed a possible anomaly in the roof area of the tractor. Further inspection of the area revealed a hydraulic-operated compartment behind some shelving which concealed the marijuana and currency. The contraband had apparently been sprayed with oleoresin capsicum (OC spray) and vinegar in an attempt to defeat inspection by CBP K-9 units.
"Narcotics and currency smuggling in the Pacific Northwest continues to be a border security threat," said Pat Hinchey, CBP Sumas area port director. "Our CBP officers will maintain their vigilance in protecting our nation’s borders from the many threats we face daily."
The currency, marijuana (valued at $381,000 USD) and the truck and trailer were all seized by CBP officers. The case is being investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

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31-year-old Oshawa

Police arrested a 31-year-old Oshawa, Ontario, man after searching his tractor trailer at 1:28 a.m. Friday when he was trying to enter the United States via the Blue Water Bridge.
He was driving a D&D Freight truck hauling carrots from Toronto to Chicago, said Port Huron police Lt. Paul Reid.The marijuana was discovered in the trailer of the truck.The driver currently is being held in St. Clair County jail

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Dr. Sean Buckingham

Dr. Sean Buckingham guilty on five counts of sexual assault, six counts of trafficking painkillers such as OxyContin and Lorazepam, and one count of assault.
During the two-month trial on 18 charges at the Newfoundland and Labrador Supreme Court in St. John's, patients described in explicit detail how Buckingham provided them drugs in exchange for money and sexual favours over a two-year span.
One of the patients broke down in tears when she testified that the 47-year-old doctor sodomized her and whipped her with a twig while she was naked and tied to a tree at a local park.

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Konstantin Gagkayev, 25, and Andre Latendre, 21,Jeffrey Jones, 21.

Konstantin Gagkayev, 25, and Andre Latendre, 21, of Windsor, and Jeffrey Jones, 21, of Allan Park, Mich., each face charges of possession for the purpose of trafficking and possession of a controlled substance. Two Windsor men have been charged following a 100-thousand dollar marijuana bust in Chatham-Kent. The OPP pulled over a vehicle on the 401 last night that was exceeding the speed limit and smelled the raw marijuana. About 15-thousand dollars in cash was also seized. Charged are Konstantin Gagkayev and Andre Latendre, both of Windsor and a Michigan man.

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