MONTREAL, Dec. 5 (UPI) -- Montreal police say they have broken the back of a major criminal ring with the arrest of 14 people suspected of having smuggled $2 billion worth of cocaine and hashish through the Port of Montreal over the past three years.
About 50 officers, including members of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the Quebec provincial police and the Montreal force teamed up to smash the so-called West End Gang, which has long been suspected of supplying drugs to the Hells Angels and other criminal organizations.
Those arrested were to appear in court Thursday to hear multiple charges read, including conspiring to traffic, drug trafficking, conspiring to import and importing drugs.
Police said the gang operated with conspirators employed in sensitive positions within the port to smuggle drugs hidden in cargo containers, and described the operation as one of the most influential criminal organizations in Canada.
The gang is suspected of importing $2.1 billion in illegal drugs between 1999 and 2001.
Most of the drugs come through the port from South Africa and Panama. The gang is suspected of trafficking 44 tons of hashish and 265 kilograms of cocaine since 1999, police said.
Inspector Serge Frenette of the Montreal police told reporters, "We believe with these arrests the West End Gang is mostly out of order for a while. Others will attempt to take over, but we'll be watching."
Gerald Matticks, the 62-year-old reputed leader of the ring, was already behind bars, serving a 12-year sentence, after pleading guilty in August to supplying the Hells Angels with large quantities of drugs.
The 14 men arrested after an 18-month investigation, including one of Matticks sons, are said to be members of the gang he founded in the 1990s.
Donald Matticks, 39, worked as a container checker at the Port of Montreal.
Law enforcement officials disclosed that much of their information came through an informer, who they identified as Elias Luis Lekkas, who became associated with the younger Matticks by selling stolen chickens before becoming a key player in the West End Gang.
Also among those arrested was 61-year-old Donald Driver, who was snared in a spectacular drug bust in 1994, when police charged him with importing 26.5 tons of hashish through the Port of Montreal. That case was thrown out of court after the discovery that police had planted evidence and resulted in a $30 million public inquiry into the actions, procedures and techniques of the provincial police.
Police claimed to have intercepted three of seven major drug shipments but admitted they are unsure where the rest of the drugs eventually went. They said the shipments were destined for the elite Nomads chapter of the Quebec Hells Angels.
The biker gang, which police tried to wipe out earlier this year, continues to operate behind the scenes, even though 13 key members are presently on trial on charges ranging from murder to drug smuggling and gangsterism.
The Quebec-based bikers are known to control extensive drug distribution networks throughout Quebec, New Brunswick, Ontario and the Atlantic provinces. Other Hells Angels chapters have become increasingly powerful in western provinces such as Manitoba, Alberta and British Columbia.
Police said security problems continue to plague Montreal's port and they expect to make further arrests of persons suspected of abetting smugglers by whisking containers past checkpoints and into secure warehouses.
