EAT ANY MANGO PUREE LATELY ?

Bogus company used for drugs business: RCMP
SIDHARTHA BANERJEE

Canadian Press

June 19, 2007 at 2:27 PM EDT

MONTREAL — Five Mexicans who had visitor status in Canada allegedly smuggled millions of dollars worth of cocaine into the country packed neatly in tubs of frozen mango puree, the RCMP says.
The Mexicans, who operated under the guise of a legitimately registered food import company, have been charged with importing cocaine and possession for the purpose of trafficking.

The five men were arrested and charged in early June after an elaborate sting operation conducted by the RCMP.

The RCMP's drug squad says it has seized 160 kilograms of cocaine that came via shipping container from Vera Cruz, Mexico, to Montreal after passing through the Bahamas.

The Mounties estimate the drugs to be worth about $38-million and say the 1.9 million potential doses of coke were destined for Quebec and Eastern Canada.

RCMP Staff-Sergeant Andre Potvin said Tuesday the cocaine was about 80 per cent pure.

“Cocaine that's sold on the street is at a lower purity level, so in this case we believe the cocaine was cut three times to make more doses,” Sgt. Potvin said.

Sgt. Potvin said two of the five men operated Quality Mexiport, a legally registered Quebec company that was founded in 2005 and listed a bogus address for its offices. It also rented a refrigerated warehouse. The five accused lived out of hotels while in Montreal.

Sgt. Potvin said that police have traced shipping records to show the first shipment from the company arrived in Montreal in July 2006. At least four shipments were sent using the same route.

Police say neither they nor Mexican authorities had ever heard of members of the group but haven't ruled out some link to Canadian organized crime.

“We have reason to believe they are linked,” Sgt. Potvin said. “Obviously, someone that needs to bring in 160 kilograms of cocaine worth a considerable amount of money, basically you have to have a criminal network behind that.”

Law enforcement were aware of the shipping routes being used by the accused but didn't know those routes were being used to ship drugs, Sgt. Potvin said.

In late May, Canada Border Services Agency agents identified the container as one they wanted to examine closely, said Andre Suprenant of the CBSA.

Mr. Suprenant said 1.2 million containers pass through Montreal's port and about half are imports into Canada. CBSA agents generally investigate about 25,000 containers per year. The Mounties don't believe the group had any help from anyone at the port.