No local arrests yet in pepper sauce drug bust

Police here are yet to arrest the suspect they have identified in the Cdn$40 million drug bust that was made in Ontario, Canada earlier this month even as a similar discovery was made two weeks later in the US Virgin Islands (USVI).

Commissioner of Police (ag) Henry Greene did not release much information yesterday and declined to reveal details about the suspect when asked.

Greene also could not provide information on the December 24 bust in USVI saying that he was meeting Crime Chief Seelall Persaud for an update on the matter. This newspaper was told to contact him later for additional information, however, calls to his cellular phone went unanswered. This newspaper was also unable to contact Persaud.

It is unclear if the local suspect is now being linked to both cases.
According to the information reaching this newspaper the two drug shipments have been traced back to Guyana after being found inside pepper sauce cartons and boxes of food seasoning that were manufactured here.

With the latest net, the total amount of cocaine seized as a result of investigations is 376 kilos with an estimated street value of Cdn$54.5 million.

According to the Canadian press, the busts are part of a major anti-narcotics initiative dubbed “Project Falcon,” which sought to identify the sources of the criminal network that transported cocaine to street gang members and drug abusers in the Durham region.

On December 8, officers found 276 kilos of high-quality cocaine at the Port of Saint John, New Brunswick, aboard the ship, Tropic Canada. It regularly transports goods between St John and the Caribbean.

According to the Toronto Star, the drugs were traced back to Guyana, from where the padded freight containers were shipped out. The Star reported investigators as saying that the vessel in New Brunswick was confirmed to have been carrying 77-79 per cent pure cocaine, which was found inside boxes of hot sauce. They removed all but two kilos of the cocaine and performed a controlled delivery of the container to its original destination in Etobicoke. It was received by the owner of the company, Mahendrapaul Doodnauth, who unloaded the boxes at a rented storage facility on Rexdale Boulevard in Toronto. As a result, Doodnauth, of Toronto, was charged. There is no record at the Light House of the ship entering Guyana’s waters.

Then on December 24, a day after announcing one of the largest drug busts in Ontario’s history, Durham police working with the Canada Border Services Agency and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) tipped off the US Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) about the second shipment, which was stopped in St Croix.

According to the Star, the drugs, with an estimated valued of $14.5 million, like the first shipment, were hidden in cardboard dividers in 139 boxes of food seasoning products also destined for Doodnauth’s business in Etobicoke.

The drugs were found after DEA agents raided the ship. Canadian law enforcement officials said more arrests were likely.

This newspaper was unable to establish yesterday if any were made.
According the December 26 edition of the Virgin Islands Daily News, the cocaine was hidden among cardboard dividers of boxes containing spice seasoning from Guyana.

The article stated that at the time of the bust the shipment was passing through St Croix on its way to Canada.

No information on the number of persons held or the status of the boat was printed.
On Wednesday, Greene informed this newspaper that the police have identified a local suspect in connection with the first bust and while no arrest was made they were looking for the man.