Canada drugs and gun smuggling racket…Hits and Jams official surrenders to RCMP
Hits and Jams Entertainment director Dwidth Ferguson, who was on the run for allegedly being part of a narcotics and gun smuggling racket, has surrendered to Canadian authorities. CANU had been in contact with the Canadian authorities over Ferguson and had been in constant receipt of information. According to a senior official from the local Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit (CANU), Ferguson, 32, handed himself over to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP). He was reportedly in the company of a lawyer. Ferguson was on the run from the Canadian authorities for over a month, following the arrest of 12 other persons. He is said to be the director of Hits and Jams Entertainment. That company is closely associated with Hits and Jams Television and 94.1 Boom FM radio station.
Surrendered: Dwidth Ferguson
Ferguson is well known in Guyana on the entertainment circuit. The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP), in a press conference last month disclosed that Ferguson was on the run following a year-long international investigation into drug trafficking and gun-running. The Canadians subsequently issued an arrest warrant saying that he is suspected and wanted for importation of cocaine and possession for the purpose of trafficking. During the course of the investigation, the project team worked closely with investigators from three other drug importation projects, who combined to seize a total of 123 kilograms of cocaine, worth a potential street value of US$12.2-million. Project MONTO investigators seized 22 firearms and $146,000 in Canadian currency. In addition, four vehicles were seized as offence-related property. It was disclosed that 13 persons from Toronto, including Ferguson, were charged. Several of them have since appeared in Canadian courts on various charges. Investigators said that the arrested persons imported the illegal drugs and guns into Canada from Central and South America and the United States. The “Project MONTO” investigation began in 2014 as an international Organized Crime Enforcement Bureau (OCEB) investigation into illegal drugs importation into Canada from Trinidad and Tobago, St. Lucia and Guyana and prohibited weapons from Florida.
Some of the seized drugs.
Illegal and prescription drugs were then distributed from the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) to Newfoundland and Labrador. Cash would go from Newfoundland and Labrador back to the Greater Toronto Area. Drugs were also distributed locally in the GTA upon arrival. Cash would be transferred to the source countries to purchase the drugs being imported. The illegal drugs being acquired and distributed consisted primarily of wholesale quantities of cocaine. Several search warrants were executed last month at locations in southern Ontario, including the City of Toronto. OPP said that the 13 persons were charged with 48 offences including charges relating to the Controlled Drug and Substances Act (CDSA) and the Criminal Code of Canada. Guyana is a known trans-shipment point to the US and Europe for especially cocaine. There have been an increasing number of busts in recent months with the establishment of the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) office in Guyana. Just yesterday, the Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit (CANU) busted a woman who was an outgoing passenger on a Caribbean Airlines flight to JFK international. She reportedly had some 25 pounds of cocaine in her possession. She is just one of at least five people arrested within the past fortnight attempting to smuggle cocaine out of Guyana.