Eight arrests broke up a drug ring that smuggled Quebec marijuana through New York’s St. Regis Mohawk Reservation to the Cleveland area, Franklin County District Attorney Derek Champagne said on 1 July 2009.[1] Five suspects were from New York and three from Ohio, and all faced felony drug charges carrying eight years or more.[1]
Officers executed search warrants on 15 June at homes in the Cleveland area and at three North Country residences, including a camp on the St. Regis River in St. Regis Falls and its owner’s Hill Top Stop store, seizing $1.3 million in cash, a pound of cocaine, 14 vehicles and a boat.[1][2] Investigators said Cleveland drivers rented a car every other weekend, drove to the camp, and picked up about 100 pounds of marijuana per load valued at around $500,000, sometimes paying cash hidden inside a computer hard-drive shell.[2]
The organization ran for two to three years, with more than 18 confirmed loads in one year worth an estimated $18 million to $27 million, according to a law-enforcement press release.[2] Authorities linked the network to Russian organized crime; the case began in 2008 when Ohio investigators looking into mob money laundering found the group was receiving large marijuana shipments from upstate New York.[1] Champagne said more charges and arrests were likely as the investigation continued.[1]
