-from theglobeandmail.com-

By Brodie Fenlon

TORONTO — Two Toronto police officers and three corrections officers have been charged with drug-related offences in a large-scale bust of marijuana grow operations in the Greater Toronto Area.

Toronto Police Chief Bill Blair announced the charges at a press conference Thursday, hours after police executed 63 search warrants throughout GTA.

Of 23 people arrested, 20 were charged, including a young offender. The police officers, who are suspended with pay, are constables with more than eight years of experience each. They are scheduled to appear in a Newmarket court Friday.

Toronto police identified the accused officers as Kevin Bourne, a nine-year veteran based at 51 division, and Patrick Lee, an eight-year veteran based at 31 division.

“When we have behaviour as is alleged in this investigation, where members of our service are alleged to have been involved in a criminal enterprise, it is more than merely a betrayal of their oath of office,” Chief Blair said.

“It is, frankly, a betrayal of all of the hard-working and decent men and women of the Toronto Police Service and the policing profession in this country.”

Chief Blair said an internal professional standards investigation was launched after one of his officers was identified in February as having a connection to a residence that was under investigation for marijuana offences by the York Regional Police Service.

Internal affairs investigators conducted surveillance, interviews and executed search warrants over several months, he said.

“Over the course of this investigation, the professional standards branch discovered that a second member of our service, along with three corrections officers and a number of private citizens, were involved in a criminal enterprise, the primary purpose of which was the production and distribution of marijuana, the distribution of other drugs, and the laundering of the proceeds of their criminal enterprise,” Chief Blair said.

Superintendent James Ramer said the accused are alleged to have participated in an “elaborate criminal organization” that lasted more than two years and involved other drugs, including Ecstasy and steroids. Police seized three houses, five vehicles, $60,000 in cash and nearly eight kilograms of marijuana, Supt. Ramer said.

“It’s certainly disappointing to find out that you have two of your own members involved, but it’s work that needs to be done. We have to ensure the public trust and public confidence,” he said.

“We are very disappointed by this investigation,” Chief Blair added.

“This has been an exhaustive investigation, it has included countless hours of surveillance, just a huge amount of work … We determined that two or our members were engaged in criminal behaviour, and we also determined that no other member of this service was in any way connected to this criminal enterprise.”

-from thechronicleherald.ca-

Halifax Regional Police arrested two men on cocaine charges after stopping a car in Bedford on Wednesday afternoon. Officers pulled over a car 4 p.m. and found some cocaine on one of the two occupants.

A 20-year-old Bedford man was due in Halifax provincial court Thursday on drug possession and trafficking charges, and a 19-year-old from Hammonds Plains will appear in court on the same charges later.

-from suntimes.com-

A three-month undercover investigation by Chicago police that included 25 controlled crack cocaine purchases at a Chicago Lawn neighborhood hot spot for drug activity netted 10 arrests and warrants for two others.

Operation Rock Creek was launched in the area of 63rd Street from Western Avenue to Rockwell Street on the South Side, based on the concerns of district commanders and complaints from residents, a release from News Affairs said.

As Narcotics Section Squad A-2 gathered intelligence, they found the Gangster Disciples largely controlled drug sales in the area, the release said. Drug dealers and buyers blended into the crowds of shoppers patronizing businesses along 63rd while nearby multi-unit buildings masked illegal transactions from public view.

The area was particularly violent, as well. Three of five homicides that occurred between June 2007 and June 2008 happened while the squad worked to dismantle the drug market.

Officers made 25 controlled crack cocaine buys, recovering 14.2 grams of cocaine with an estimated street value of $1,746. The team netted an additional $313 in cash and 12.2 grams of white heroin valued at about $1,830 while taking targeted offenders into custody.

Those arrested ranged in age from 19 to 44, according to the release. They were each charged with delivery of a controlled substance. Two others, 23-year-old Shante Harvey and 29-year-old Marcus Brewer, are wanted for delivery of a controlled substance.

-from rockymoutnainnews.com-

By Tracee M. Herbaugh & Bill Scanlon

The 34 people indicted in an alleged Front Range drug-trafficking ring Monday included four women; whites, blacks, Asians, and Hispanics; at least two who live in million-dollar houses; and 13 suspected illegal residents.

Thirty of the 34 have been arrested, and warrants are out for the other four.

Jefferson County prosecutors said $4 million of cocaine was distributed each month in homes and other locations in

Westminster, Wheat Ridge, Thornton, Arvada, Aurora, Denver, Fort Collins, Highlands Ranch and unincorporated Jefferson County.

The West Metro Drug Task Force and the Drug Enforcement Administration started the operation in September, and it was ready for the grand jury in April.

Dubbed Operation Shoestringto reflect shrinking budgets for drug enforcement, the investigation effectively disabled the ring, which also had brought large amounts of marijuana to the area, said Jefferson County Sheriff Ted Mink.

A grand jury returned 141 counts.

Among those indicted was Terrie Spieker, owner of a $1.2 million home in Highlands Ranch. Prosecutors allege that she bought cocaine Feb. 3, Super Bowl Sunday, in the parking lot of the Red Robin restaurant at 63 W. Centennial Blvd.

Peter Bidgood, charged with intent to distribute cocaine, lives in Greeley in a home worth “about $2 million,” said Mike Turner, spokesman for the Jefferson County District Attorney’s Office.

“This gives you an idea of the tentacles of this organization,” said Jeffrey Sweetin, a special agent for the Drug Enforcement Administration. “What it also says is that a gated community won’t do everything for you. If you leave that gated community, you may be parked next to a cocaine dealer at Red Robin on Super Bowl Sunday.”

The alleged 13 highest-level members of the drug ring were charged with racketeering, violation of the Colorado Organized Crime Control Act, a Class 2 felony, in addition to other charges.

According to the indictment, Martin Vega-Beleta was the highest-ranking member of the organization and the source of cocaine that came from Mexico to the Phoenix area and then to Colorado.

His girlfriend, Norma Yudith Talabera-Espinoza, served as his lieutenant, and Erick Fernando Chaparro-Franco is suspected of being the drug runner.

Vega-Beleta would travel back and forth between Denver and the Phoenix area, transporting money for the delivery of cocaine and marijuana to Denver, authorities said.

At the next level were the high-volume dealers, purchasing cocaine in kilogram quantities and distributing it to the people below them, the indictment said. Those alleged high-level dealers included Sergio Flores-Hernandez, Jaime Esparaza-Arreola, Sergio Munoz-Maltes and Juan Aguilar-Martinez.

Those indicted for allegedly purchasing large quantities, then breaking them down to sell by the ounce, were Alejandro Banuelos-Serna and his girlfriend, Mirella DiFranco, Federico Banuelos and Samuel Martinez.

The lower-level people indicted are accused of dealing at several locations along the Front Range, including the Denver Public Library at 2401 Welton St.; Colorado Mills shopping mall, 14500 W. Colfax Ave.; and El Ballezano boot store at West First Avenue and Federal Boulevard.

The $4 million in cocaine brought to metro Denver each month amounted to about 110 pounds a month.

Agents seized about 13 pounds of cocaine with a street value of $500,000 and 25 pounds of marijuana, with a street value of $10,000.

They also seized $500,000 in cash and six handguns.

According to the indictment: “Members of the enterprise do not always know all of the other members of the enterprise, but all members of the enterprise know that there are other people involved in the various levels of sale/distribution process.

“Knowledge of the various members is intentionally limited in the enterprise to protect the enterprise from law enforcement.”

Prosecutors said members of the ring often used cell phones and text messages to communicate, and their conversations were “disguised by the use of code and vague terminology to further frustrate law enforcement.”

“In general, the quantities identified in this indictment are quantities that will be used for resale and not just for personal use,” the indictment states.

Jefferson County District Attorney Scott Storey credited the West Metro Drug Task Force, the DEA and his prosecutors for making it “easy for the grand jury to do their job” and stopping this stream of drugs.