OTTAWA: Fifteen people, including six from Montreal, face charges in connection with a RCMP investigation into several drug smuggling conspiracies that allegedly involved employees of the Canadian Coast Guard and the Department of National Defence.
The RCMP released details of Operation Harrington during a news conference held in Dartmouth, N.S., on Tuesday. The investigation began two years ago when investigators received a tip that someone in Canada was preparing to smuggle cocaine from South America to Nova Scotia. As the investigation progressed, investigators learned that several people tied to Mexican and Colombian drug cartels were looking to bring cocaine into Canada. While 200 kilograms of cocaine was seized, the RCMP said Tuesday that it “had control” of what the drug smugglers thought was going to arrive in Nova Scotia.
“In this particular case we had control of how some of these conspiracies unfolded,” said RCMP Inspector Glen Lambe without revealing much more.
Among those arrested was a Royal Canadian Air Force employee who had security clearance and access to restricted areas at 14 Wing Greenwood, the largest air base on the East Coast.
Darlene Richards, 54, was the administrative assistant to the commanding officer of 413 Transport and Rescue Squadron. She is a civilian employee of the Department of National Defence.
Richards, a resident of Greenwood, N.S., is named in an indictment filed at the Montreal courthouse alleging she and four other people took part in a conspiracy to import cocaine into Canada. The alleged conspiracy ran from April 26, 2014 to April 2015.
She has worked for the federal government since 1991 and underwent a security screen process before her posting, a military spokesman said.
“She no longer has access to restricted areas and her security clearance is under review,” said Lieutenant Sylvain Rousseau, public affairs officer for 14 Wing.
Also among those charged is a Canadian Coast Guard employee who works in a junior position aboard a vessel in the Coast Guard fleet.
Five of the people charged are from Ontario and four are from Nova Scotia.
Included among the Montreal residents charged in Operation Harrington is Ryan Wedding, 33, a former Olympic snowboarder who represented Canada in the 2002 winter games. He recently completed a four-year sentence he received after being charged with taking part in a conspiracy to purchase 24 kilos cocaine in a sting operation in the U.S. While serving the sentence, he was deported to Canada in December 2011. Wedding is originally from Coquitlam, B.C., but according to the indictment filed against him in Montreal court he was residing in a condo on Viger St. W. while investigated in Operation Harrington. As of Tuesday afternoon, the RCMP was still trying to locate Wedding.
Indictments made public at the Montreal courthouse on Monday allege Wedding was part of two of the alleged cocaine smuggling conspiracies uncovered during Operation Harrington.
In 2010, the former Olympic athlete was facing the possibility of a 10-year sentence for his role in a plan to purchase 24 kilos of cocaine in San Diego. He was instead sentenced to four because a judge was convinced he was a low risk of reoffending.
“I’m ashamed that I became part of the problem because for years, as part of being an athlete and having an outgoing personality, I was part of the solution. I’ve always mentored kids and encouraged kids and, well, people of all ages, to join sports and stay in school, stay clean, you know. I’ve always done that and I guess I lost my way,” Wedding told the U.S. District Court judge before he was sentenced in 2010.
At least three other Montreal residents — Normand Joseph Pomerleau, 64, Michael Charles Dibben, 60, and Edouard Semmikian, 61 — have yet to be arrested in Operation Harrington.
