Police execute twenty search warrants in Project Scarecrow

At a news conference last Wednesday morning, a Joint Police Operation involving the Ottawa Police Service (OPS), the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) and the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP), announced the conclusion of a 18-month drug investigation called Project “SCARECROW”.

On Tuesday, August 26, 2008, twenty search warrants were executed under the authority of the Controlled Drugs and Substance Act. Eighteen of the warrants took place in the City of Ottawa, one in the town of Alexandria and one in the community of Akwesasne.  The search warrants were executed in residences. Members of the OPS Tactical Unit assisted in some of the entries. 

Project “SCARECROW” effected a total of 230 charges against persons.  The 230 charges include conspiracy to produce and traffic controlled substances, possession of controlled substances for the purpose of trafficking, participating in a criminal organization and laundering proceeds of crime

Project “SCARECROW”, a joint effort consisting of the Ottawa Police Service, the Ontario Provincial Police and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, commenced in April 2007, as an investigation into an Ottawa based Asian Organized Crime Group involved in the production, trafficking and distribution of large amounts of marihuana throughout the Ottawa area.

The investigation quickly expanded when a distribution network that imported marihuana into the United States from Canada was identified.

In January 2008, the Drug Enforcement Administration commenced an investigation into the importation of marijuana from Canada through the Akwesasne Mohawk Community. This investigation targeted the American component of the distribution chain uncovered in Project Scarecrow.

In the month of August 2008, the DEA dismantled the organization, alleging that it conspired to import over 200 lbs of Canadian marihuana in a 3-month period.  As a result of this wiretap investigation, nine persons have been charged with drug trafficking and weapons related offences.  The United States Department of Justice holds 3 Federal Arrest Warrants for Canadian Citizens.

As part of this investigation, locations on the Akwesasne Mohawk community were identified as smuggling conduits and with the assistance of the Akwesasne Mohawk Police and the locations were investigated. The investigation resulted in the execution of a search warrant at a residence in the Akwesasne Mohawk Community.  The resident of this location is currently being sought by the Drug Enforcement Administration for his criminal activities relating to the smuggling of marihuana.

Physical surveillance and the interception of private communications assisted in identifying several criminal organizations that control the flow of marihuana from its inception, within large scale indoor marihuana grow operations, to the final distribution of the “harvested” product at the local, provincial, inter-provincial, and international level. 

“Project Scarecrow is an extension of the cooperative enforcement between police officers in your community at all levels, working together to provide a safe community, a secure Ontario,” said OPP Superintendent Frank Elbers, Director Drug Enforcement Section, Organized Crime Bureau.

The Criminal Organizations were also involved in money laundering operations, in which proceeds were transferred through the United States of America, into Canada, and Vietnam. These organizations extended across Canada, into the United States.

“In cooperation with our partners, the RCMP will continue identifying criminals operating at the highest levels and seizing their criminally-derived assets,” said Royal Canadian Mounted RCMP Inspector Tim Mackin, “A” Division OIC Organized Crime and Border Integrity.

Investigators identified the various “cells” of the organization and their role within the production and distribution of the organization.  Numerous large-scale indoor marihuana grow operations were located and dismantled; several bulk transactions of marihuana were intercepted as they were being trafficked through the various compartments of the Criminal Organization.

The controlled substances seized over the course of the Canadian investigation is in excess of 4.5 million dollars. The Integrated Proceeds of Crime Unit and the Asset Forfeiture Unit, seized assets directly related to the proceeds of the organizations criminal activity valued in excess of $ 460,000.00. This portion of the investigation continues.  

“Combating Organized Crime is something the Ottawa Police, in conjunction with Provincial and Federal policing partners takes very seriously,” added Ottawa Police Service, Superintendent Tim Armour, Criminal Investigation Services. “The success of Project Scarecrow has put a sizeable dent at the production and distribution levels of the drug trade in Ottawa.”