Montreal police arrest 3 after seizing 100 kilos of cocaine

In what has been described as an anti-gang operation, three men were arrested this week after authorities seized more than 100 kilograms of cocaine, Montreal police announced Wednesday.

The operation was carried out on Dec. 8 by the force’s Organized Crime Section and involved searches across several Montreal boroughs,  including Lachine, LaSalle, Côte-des-Neiges—Notre-Dame-de-Grâce, Ville-Marie and St-Laurent, as well as in the nearby city of Lorraine, Montreal police said in a statement.

In addition to the cocaine, officers seized five kilograms of heroin, 20 litres of GHB, $306,000 in cash, three firearms, two vehicles and other evidence. The combined estimated street value of the cocaine and heroin was pegged at more than $2.3 million, police said.

Two additional suspects are still being sought, police added.

The probe, which was launched in July, revealed that suppliers in the Toronto area were funnelling drugs into Montreal, where they were resold at higher margins.

The network, police said, relied on a steady flow of narcotics moving along the heavily travelled corridor between the two cities.

The men arrested were Michele Laddaga, 49, Victor Julio Sanchez Medrano, 45, and Lenin Garcia Ciriaco, 38.

Laddaga faces charges of trafficking and possession of narcotics, while the other two are charged with trafficking and receiving the proceeds of crime. They appeared in court the following day.

The investigation remains ongoing.