Hits & Jams DJ surrenders to Canadian authorities
Guyanese DJ Dwidth Ferguson has surrendered to law enforcement officials in Canada, Head of the Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit (CANU) James Singh has confirmed.
Stabroek News was told that Ferguson, 32, one of the founders of local promotion group Hits & Jams entertainment, turned himself in sometime on Wednesday. It was after the smashing of a multi-national drug and gun import ring that Canadian authorities identified Ferguson as a key player.
In light of Ferguson’s surrender, it is expected that he will be formally charged with importation of cocaine and possession for the purpose of trafficking cocaine. Charges had already been filed against him in his absence.
According to information released by the Organised Crime Enforcement Bureau through the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP), Ferguson was one of 13 people charged following the year-long investigation, dubbed “Project Monto.” In documents seen by this newspaper, Ferguson’s address was given as Georgetown.
Canadian media reports stated that the investigation revealed a trail of cocaine, prescription pills and handguns being smuggled in the United States and the Caribbean. The ten men and two women arrested were later slapped with a total of 46 charges.
According to CP24.com, OPP Chief Superintendent Rick Barnum said that since 2014, drugs would arrive at Pearson International Airport in luggage and other containers aboard planes arriving from California, Trinidad and Tobago, St. Lucia and Guyana. Most of the drugs, he said, were to be sold in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), but some were shipped onwards to Newfoundland and Labrador.
Over the same period of time, handguns traced back to Florida were smuggled into Canada, also via Pearson International Airport, Barnum revealed.
The media report said that a number of search warrants were served in and around the GTA, leading to the seizure of 22 firearms, $146,000 in cash, four cars and, when combined with the hauls from three other related investigations, a total of 123 kilogrammes of cocaine with an estimated value of US$12.2M.
Barnum stated that the individuals in custody were not suspected to be low-level players in the operation.
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