Seven Metro Vancouver men have been charged after a five-month investigation by the RCMP in Nova Scotia into a drug trafficking network.
Another five men and one woman were arrested in the Maritime province and also face trafficking and money laundering charges.
Mounties in Nova Scotia said in a release that their investigation “targeted a suspected a drug trafficking network operating in the Lower Mainland of B.C. and extending across Canada.”
“They were believed to be distributing large quantities of marijuana from the Vancouver area to points in central and eastern Canada – Toronto, Montreal, Halifax and St John’s,” Cpl. Greg Church said.
“The investigation confirmed that individuals were traveling via commercial airlines and transporting marihuana and large quantities of cash in their checked baggage. RCMP allege the individuals were conspiring to move a significant volume of drugs from one location to another in Canada.”
RCMP searched six residences in Halifax and eight on the Lower Mainland Wednesday.
In B.C., police seized over $100,000 in cash, weapons including a carbine assault weapon, loaded shotgun and handgun, over 100 pounds of pot, 296 marijuana plants,
Oxycontin pills and over a kilogram of cocaine.
Charged are Stephen John Lockett, 42, of Pitt Meadows, Jeffrey Michael Boyer, 34, of Coquitlam, Reece Peter Germaine, 28, of North Vancouver, and Maple Ridge residents
Derek Nicklaus Pilling, 28, Douglas Kurtiss Neumann, 33, Darren Ernest Telford, 29 and Ryan Frederick Franklin, 28.
Lockett and Boyer are charged with conspiracy to traffic marijuana, proceeds of crime and money laundering.
Germaine, Pilling, Neumann, Telford and Franklin are each facing charges of trafficking, possession of proceeds of crime and money laundering.
“The mandate of federal serious and organized crime investigators at the Vancouver international airport remains to detect and dismantle organized criminal activity at or through the airport,” Insp. Mike Carlson said. “This cooperative effort with the criminal intelligence section of B.C. and RCMP federal investigators in Nova Scotia is an excellent example of the success which can be generated through cooperative enforcement efforts and effective intelligence sharing.”

Pot seized in investigation
Charged in Nova Scotia are Dartmouth residents Kirk Edward Withrow 51, Matthew Brian Oldford, 35, Melissa Ann Murphy, 35, Andrew David Gauthier, 38, as well as Troy Scott Adam Lee, 40, of Brookside.
Filed under: The Real Scoop Tagged: Breaking News, Darren Ernest Telford, Derek Nicklaus Pilling, Douglas Kurtiss Neumann, Jeffrey Michael Boyer, John Lockett, Kim Bolan, Michael Boyer, Mike Carlson, nova scotia, Real Scoop, Reece Peter Germaine, Ryan Frederick Franklin, Stephen John Lockett, Vancouver Sun
