Six Quebecers have been arrested for allegedly being part of a network the Peruvian government has dubbed “Los Nórdicos” (the northerners).
A police investigation that began in Montreal last June led to the dismantling of an alleged drug-trafficking network that was capable of transporting major quantities of cocaine from Peru to Canada, the RCMP said Wednesday.
Six Quebecers were among the 11 people arrested in Peru and Canada. A series of raids in Peru also led to the seizure of handguns, vehicles and cash, Peruvian police said.
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“It’s a major operation,” said Sergeant Charles Poirier, a spokesperson for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
“We’re talking about a network of individuals who had the capacity of exporting from Peru and importing into Canada hundreds of kilos of cocaine a month.”
He said the RCMP is still actively investigating the network and cannot provide many details.
However, Peru’s Interior Ministry published a press release announcing the country’s national police force had arrested three Quebecers in Peru last week — Fréderic Dewald, 25; Bo Soleil Morin, 27; and Francis Toupin, 34.
Four Peruvians and a Venezuelan were also detained in the South American country.
Three more people were arrested in Quebec but later released, pending the RCMP investigation, Poirer said.
The Peruvian government has dubbed the alleged international drug-smuggling network “Los Nórdicos” (the northerners).
The network allegedly sent consignments of illicit drugs to Canada and European countries amid merchandise shipped by air by third parties, Peru said.
Between June 2022 and January 2023, Peru’s national police force and the RCMP seized a total of 165 kilograms of cocaine that the group had transported or was trying to transport.
About 60 kilos of those kilos were seized in Quebec, Poirier said.
The Peruvian government published photos and a video of the arrests and the aftermath. They show handcuffed men on the floor, with police officers rifling through boxes of goods and counting money.
Poirier would not say where the cocaine was seized in Quebec. The Canada Border Services Agency has played a key role in the investigation, he said.
The RCMP is not ready to disclose what sparked the investigation, Poirier said. He said the Peruvian national police force and the U.S Drug Enforcement Administration later joined the probe.
RCMP investigators visited Peru several times during the investigation.
A Global Affairs Canada spokesperson said consular officials are in contact with local authorities and are providing consular assistance to the three Canadian citizens arrested in Peru.
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Three Quebecers arrested in Peru in alleged drug-smuggling operation
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More than 100 kilos of cocaine seized by police in Kirkland, St-Léonard, Laval
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