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“IRAN – CANADA OPIUM DRUG CARTEL BUSTED BY RCMP &
TORONTO DRUG SQUAD”
FROM THE - JOURNALS of Monte Friesner ~ Financial Crime Consultant for WANTED SA ~
Monday January 31, 2011 >
"MAJOR OPIUM CARTEL FROM IRAN BROKEN UP IN CANADA"
WANTED SA learned this morning that a colossal drug trafficking ring operating in the Greater Toronto area was cracked with the arrest of seven men and two women charged together charged on 66 counts of importing and trafficking in opium and other illegal drugs originating from Iran.
Another three members of the ring are on the wanted list.
The arrests were made at the end of a year-long investigation, code-named Project Khiar, by the Toronto Police Drugs squad coordinated with the York and Peel regional police and the Canada Border Service.
Police also seized four luxury cars vehicles.
Some 190 kilograms of opium valued at $13 million was seized along with 44 kilograms of Ephedrine, (an ingredient of Crystal Methamphetamine) and 44 kilograms of Ephedrine (from which about 40 kilograms of Crystal Methamphetamine can be extracted) together valued at $8.8 million.
Fardin Ayati-Ghaffari 47, Mansour Chegini, 50, Saeid Chegini 27, Naeim Dehghansai Ghahramankou, 27, Shahin Azhadi 38, all of Richmond Hill, and Mehrdad Barehi,40 and Somayyrh Fatholli-Ghocheh,26, both of Toronto have all been charged on a range of between two and 22 offenses including possession and global conspiracy to import and traffic in opium, heroin, cocaine, marijuana, ephedrine and methadone, as well as and obstruction of justice.
An eighth person Crystal Lee Eden, 31, of Toronto was charged with possession of cannabis.
Police are still hunting for Lakhbir Shokar, 46, Mohamed Medhi,41, and Jamshid Royan, 41, all of no fixed address, wanted for conspiring to import and traffic in ephedrine and opium.
The Toronto police drug squad suspects that other people may have been used as unwitting couriers receiving packages or shipments of concealed opium originating from Iran.
Iran has in the past 10 years become a major source of Opium from Afghanistan and then launders the money in Canada and ships the proceeds of the crime back to Iran via remittance groups based in Toronto, United Kingdom and Dubai.
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