From: The Montral Gazette
Investigation into Mafia, which ran from 2010 to 2012 and led to 30 arrests, crossed over into other police probes
By Paul Cherry, GAZETTE crime reporter
A careful read of the many indictments to emerge out of Project Clemenza, the recent RCMP-led probe into the Mafia in Montreal, reveals it intersected with other major police investigations, including one that stunned a small town southwest of Montreal.
Eighty-seven charges were filed on June 12 in Project Clemenza after members of the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit (CFSEU) arrested 30 people with alleged ties to two groups the Mounties described as “very dangerous and well-structured networks aimed at controlling drug trafficking” in the Montreal area.
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On March 21, 2012, more than 250 police officers fanned out in municipalities in southwestern Quebec like Huntingdon, Godmanchester and St-Anicet to arrest Arnold and 26 other people. Officers seized nine kilograms of marijuana, 90 cases of contraband cigarettes, 35 firearms and six properties (including Arnold’s home, which was set on fire months after the Quebec government received permission to confiscate it). On the day the arrests were made, the SQ estimated Arnold’s group cheated Canada and the province of Quebec out of $26 million in lost tax revenues.
Project Hachoir revealed Arnold ran a network adept at bringing contraband cigarettes into Canada while using the same routes to smuggle Quebec-grown marijuana into the U.S. Arnold and his smugglers used cars, a school bus, boats and snowmobiles to deliver pot to Akwasasne.
