Traffic stop nets pot worth $1.4M
RCMP dog sniffs out 155-pound stash of marijuana in truck
When Const. Stephane Raymond pulled over a truck on the Trans-Canada Highway on Wednesday, he thought he was dealing with a minor traffic infraction.
Instead, with the help of his police dog, Jasper, he made the biggest drug bust ever resulting from a traffic stop on Highway 2 in this region.
"The dog did all the work," he says. "I pointed him to the vehicle and he gave us the big seizure."
Raymond works in traffic enforcement with District 11 Caledonia RCMP and is also a trained dog handler. He and Jasper, a frisky five-year-old British retriever, were on patrol around 4 p.m. on Wednesday when they pulled over a 1996 Toyota 4-Runner.
"I pulled over this vehicle for a burned-out tail light, approached the vehicle and I became suspicious of criminal activity," says the constable.
Raymond says the man didn't own the vehicle and his story about where he was coming from and where he was going didn't make any sense. Police are trained to look for suspicious indicators during traffic stops and alarm bells were ringing.
He asked the driver if he could bring his dog over to sniff his vehicle and the man consented. Raymond then called his partner, Const. Brent Steeves, who arrived shortly and stayed with the driver.
Raymond says he took the dog out of his police car and as soon as Jasper approached the vehicle he started pulling like crazy. The dog then went to the back and sat down, to indicate the presence of drugs.
To illustrate the procedure at District 11's Riverview headquarters, Raymond takes the dog around the seized SUV and Jasper sniffs the back of the vehicle, then sits, wagging his tail wildly. He can smell the drugs, even a day after they've been removed. Raymond rewards the happy animal by tossing a toy around the police parking lot.
Once the dog detected drugs in the 4-Runner, the officers arrested the driver and searched his vehicle. When they opened the back, they found two massive hockey goalie equipment bags, stuffed to the brim with marijuana.
Once it was all seized and weighed, it added up to 155 pounds (70 kilograms) of marijuana, vacuum-sealed in plastic bags.
"I was kind of happy," said Raymond with a smile. "I've been in this unit four years and this was my biggest catch on the highway."
It may be anyone's biggest catch on the highway, at least in this corner of the province.
"I've never seen that amount of marijuana in a traffic stop," says Steeves, who's worked in this area for 28 years. "The highest I've ever seen was 60 pounds (27 kilograms).
"That's significant. That amount of marijuana, that's organized crime. We have never seen anything like that on our highways."
Police seized the drugs and the vehicle, but later decided the truck would be released. The driver appeared in Moncton provincial court yesterday and he was also released.
Jamie Colbert, 38, of Mobile, Newfoundland, was charged with possession of marijuana for the purpose of trafficking. Federal prosecutor Sylvie Godin-Blanchard agreed to Colbert's release after he said he would pay a $6,000 cash bond and agree to several conditions.
Colbert must report to the RCMP detachment in St. John's twice a week, keep the peace, attend court when required and can't leave Newfoundland except for his court appearances. He also can't possess or consume alcohol or drugs. He returns to court May 13.
Police don't know at this point what criminal organization the drugs are connected to. But they do say Highway 2 is the main corridor for any drugs or contraband heading into Atlantic Canada.
In this case, they believe the marijuana originated in Quebec and was headed for Newfoundland.
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