Organized Crime Eyed in $5M Stoney Creek Cannabis Seizure

Article by Brad Hunter, Toronto Sun

Cops have smashed a scheme to smuggle nearly $5 million of cannabis into the U.S. stashed in sand-blasting bags.

Hamilton Police investigators believe the sophistication of the operation points to the involvement of organized crime.

Detectives arrested a 56-year-old Hamilton man who faces charges relating to trafficking and exporting in illegal cannabis.

Officers seized a stoner’s ransom of a whopping 296 kilos of cannabis that was stacked on the skids of a truck and ready to roll to Illinois.

Hamilton cops say they were called to an industrial area in Stoney Creek on March 1 shortly after 2:30 p.m. regarding a suspicious shipment being loaded onto a transport truck.

Upon arrival, police discovered processed cannabis hidden in the shipment.

The vice and drug unit was contacted and began an investigation.

A search warrant was executed on both the warehouse and transport truck, yielding 653 bags of cannabis weighing approximately one pound per bag.

According to a press release, police believe the drugs had a street value of more than US$5 million.

“Based on the level of sophistication used to conceal the cannabis and the method used to transport it across the border, police believe members of organized crime to be involved,” Det.-Sgt. Jason Cattle, of the vice and drug unit, said.

Read the full article here.