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Police dubbed it Project Anarchy — an intense 18-month Ottawa-based undercover operation that netted 24 kilograms of cocaine, 10 vehicles, guns, a house and tens of thousands of dollars in cash.
“Anarchy” officers arrested nine Ottawa and Toronto men who were charged late last year with a total 75 offences related to cocaine trafficking. One of the nine, Toronto-based dealer Ravinder Grewal, 33, was sentenced to six years in penitentiary by an Ottawa judge Tuesday. He had no previous criminal record.
Grewal, formerly of Kanata and with property in Gatineau, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to traffic cocaine and conspiracy to possess the proceeds of crime.
Two other accused — Michael Fontana, 22, and Jordan Forester, 37, both of Ottawa — have been sentenced to five years in prison.
The cases against other defendants are at various stages in the court system.
Police hooked into Grewal in Toronto where he met officers at different pubs and restaurants to do drug deals.
Grewal used the handle “Adidas” in his Blackberry communications — specially encrypted devices he said he bought from the “Chinese Triads.”
He was one of five dealers — three in Ottawa and two in Toronto — from whom undercover police and their informant bought 11 kilograms of cocaine at a cost of $46,000 a kilogram in pre-marked bills delivered to Grewal in plastic shopping bags.
According to evidence, police carefully cultivated Grewal’s trust to the extent that he showed them the hidden compartment in the rear of his SUV where he kept and transported cocaine, and “fronted” them large quantities of the drug on the understanding they could pay later.
The customer service-conscious Grewal also told his undercover police customers that while he only dealt in “high heat” — high-grade cocaine — he offered a money-back guarantee valid for two or three days after each purchase.
“If you guys want to test it, you can test it,” he told the undercover police. “Here’s how I usually work: If you don’t like it, bring it back right away … any time you guys want work (cocaine), no problem.”
In another conversation, Grewal shows further confidence in his product: “You’re not even going to call me back.”
“Cool, yeah,” laughs the police “agent” doing the deal. “I will see you in four days.”
The conversation continues with a Grewal colleague comparing their product to the poor quality of Mexican heroin they say is mixed with additives “that cause sometimes a headache.”
However, according to Health Canada analysts who examined the police-bought cocaine, the “heat” wasn’t as high as Grewal claimed, averaging around 70-per-cent purity — at least 20 per cent less than high grade.
Police eventually arrested Grewal in the parking lot of a California Sandwiches café in Etobicoke on the pretext of picking up more cocaine and paying him for three kilograms of the drug Grewal had fronted them three days before.
Grewal, communicating as Adidas, emailed an undercover police officer the day before to arrange the meeting.
‘Hey bro ill see u tmrow evening?’
Officer: ‘Ya, sounds good bro! Ill give ya a zap when I am coming into town in the aft.”
The next day, police try to persuade Grewal to bring more cocaine with him to the meeting.
“Yo,” said the police officer.
“Sup, sup,” responded Grewal.
“Hey bro. Any way we can do this like the last time we hook up U bring work wit you.”
Grewal explains that he has his drugs hidden at a safe house and can’t oblige at short notice.
In advance of the meeting, police lay in wait and arrest him as he walks from his car into the parking lot.
Officers found a marijuana grinder and a baggie of marijuana in Grewal’s SUV, but no cocaine.
Nor did they find drugs or weapons during a search of Grewal’s Lakeshore Boulevard condominium.
With members of Grewal’s family and friends listening, Ontario Superior Court Justice Catherine Kehoe urged him not to continue his criminal activity when he leaves prison.
“You have everything to change your life for,” she said.
ccobb@ottawacitizen.com
twitter.com/chrisicobb
查看原文...
“Anarchy” officers arrested nine Ottawa and Toronto men who were charged late last year with a total 75 offences related to cocaine trafficking. One of the nine, Toronto-based dealer Ravinder Grewal, 33, was sentenced to six years in penitentiary by an Ottawa judge Tuesday. He had no previous criminal record.
Grewal, formerly of Kanata and with property in Gatineau, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to traffic cocaine and conspiracy to possess the proceeds of crime.
Two other accused — Michael Fontana, 22, and Jordan Forester, 37, both of Ottawa — have been sentenced to five years in prison.
The cases against other defendants are at various stages in the court system.
Police hooked into Grewal in Toronto where he met officers at different pubs and restaurants to do drug deals.
Grewal used the handle “Adidas” in his Blackberry communications — specially encrypted devices he said he bought from the “Chinese Triads.”
He was one of five dealers — three in Ottawa and two in Toronto — from whom undercover police and their informant bought 11 kilograms of cocaine at a cost of $46,000 a kilogram in pre-marked bills delivered to Grewal in plastic shopping bags.
According to evidence, police carefully cultivated Grewal’s trust to the extent that he showed them the hidden compartment in the rear of his SUV where he kept and transported cocaine, and “fronted” them large quantities of the drug on the understanding they could pay later.
The customer service-conscious Grewal also told his undercover police customers that while he only dealt in “high heat” — high-grade cocaine — he offered a money-back guarantee valid for two or three days after each purchase.
“If you guys want to test it, you can test it,” he told the undercover police. “Here’s how I usually work: If you don’t like it, bring it back right away … any time you guys want work (cocaine), no problem.”
In another conversation, Grewal shows further confidence in his product: “You’re not even going to call me back.”
“Cool, yeah,” laughs the police “agent” doing the deal. “I will see you in four days.”
The conversation continues with a Grewal colleague comparing their product to the poor quality of Mexican heroin they say is mixed with additives “that cause sometimes a headache.”
However, according to Health Canada analysts who examined the police-bought cocaine, the “heat” wasn’t as high as Grewal claimed, averaging around 70-per-cent purity — at least 20 per cent less than high grade.
Police eventually arrested Grewal in the parking lot of a California Sandwiches café in Etobicoke on the pretext of picking up more cocaine and paying him for three kilograms of the drug Grewal had fronted them three days before.
Grewal, communicating as Adidas, emailed an undercover police officer the day before to arrange the meeting.
‘Hey bro ill see u tmrow evening?’
Officer: ‘Ya, sounds good bro! Ill give ya a zap when I am coming into town in the aft.”
The next day, police try to persuade Grewal to bring more cocaine with him to the meeting.
“Yo,” said the police officer.
“Sup, sup,” responded Grewal.
“Hey bro. Any way we can do this like the last time we hook up U bring work wit you.”
Grewal explains that he has his drugs hidden at a safe house and can’t oblige at short notice.
In advance of the meeting, police lay in wait and arrest him as he walks from his car into the parking lot.
Officers found a marijuana grinder and a baggie of marijuana in Grewal’s SUV, but no cocaine.
Nor did they find drugs or weapons during a search of Grewal’s Lakeshore Boulevard condominium.
With members of Grewal’s family and friends listening, Ontario Superior Court Justice Catherine Kehoe urged him not to continue his criminal activity when he leaves prison.
“You have everything to change your life for,” she said.
ccobb@ottawacitizen.com
twitter.com/chrisicobb
查看原文...
