Cocaine hidden inside flatbread that arrived in Canada by ship from Caribbean: RCMP

The seizure by police of a large shipment of cocaine that originated in the Caribbean and arrived in the Port of Halifax in March has “disrupted an organized crime group” that allegedly sought to import and then sell the illegal drugs on Canadian streets, the Mounties say.

Three people — one from Montreal, the others from Mississauga and the Niagara area — face multiple drug charges after 248.7 kilograms of cocaine was found wrapped in carbon paper and hidden inside 1,178 packages of flatbread as part of a shipment that arrived in Canada on March 3 from the Dominican Republic, the RCMP said in a news release on Thursday.

Canada Border Services Agency officers working at the Africville Seasides Marine Container Examination Facility in Halifax, the capital of Nova Scotia, discovered the cocaine after flagging the large shipment for inspection.

Border services officers used X-ray technology to uncover and seize the numerous illegal packages, the RCMP said, adding the drugs were then turned over to the Mounties.

RCMP Insp. Henry Tillo, officer-in-charge, Serious and Organized Crime, Toronto North Detachment, said the significant drug seizure disrupted “a sophisticated international cocaine importation network before it impacted Canadian communities.”

A CBSA officer holds open a piece of “imitation flatbread” to show cocaine hidden inside. (Photo: RCMP/CBSA)

Subsequent investigation by the RCMP led to the three arrests, authorities said.

Peter Pompeo, 58, of Montreal, was identified by police as the alleged importer of the drugs, according to the Mounties.

Pompeo, Zachary Daniel Ardizzi, 33, of Mississauga, and Taylor Bixby, 35, of Thorold, are each charged with:

• Importing a controlled substance — cocaine.
• Conspiracy to import a controlled substance — cocaine.
• Possession of a controlled substance for the purpose of trafficking — cocaine.
• Conspiracy to traffic a controlled substance — cocaine.

The accused are scheduled to appear in court, at the Ontario Court of Justice in Newmarket, on May 13.

The RCMP and CBSA said Canadian National Railway Police and Health Canada also aided in the investigation.

Tillo said the investigation also “underscores the importance of integrated partnerships” between the Mounties and other federal law enforcement agencies such as the CBSA.

The Canada Border Services Agency’s Dominic Mallette, regional director general for the Atlantic Region, said that agency “is tackling global crime head-on, in close collaboration with our law enforcement partners.”