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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