From: johnturmel@gmail.com   
      
   TURMEL: Helping in $15 million Biggest Quebec medpot bust   
      
   JCT: Jonathane Seguin called looking for help. He had been charged in the   
   biggest medpot operation in Quebec. He had tried to start a corporate mepot   
   dispensary network when dispensaries were popping up all around the country   
   before the Cannabis Act in    
   2018. They investigate him for 3.5 years, then raided in 2021 but did not   
   charge, and 2.5 years later, Dec 2023 charged him.    
      
   Ten arrests in an unprecedented investigation lapresse ca news    
   In response to Canadian government legislation, news content can’t be shared.   
      
   Sounds bad but you only heard one side.    
   English:    
      
   Fight against the illegal sale of cannabis    
   Ten arrests in an unprecedented investigation   
      
   PHOTO OLIVIER JEAN, THE PRESS   
      
   Part of the illegal cannabis was produced in this farmhouse on Rang du Dix, in   
   Saint-Étienne-de-Beauharnois.   
      
   Online cannabis traffickers suspected of having concluded 70,000 transactions   
   totaling $15 million, around ten individuals, some of whom are linked to   
   organized crime, arrested and charged, more than $7 million in blocked values,   
   investigators who    
   succeed, through false declarations, in obtaining permits to produce marijuana   
   for medical purposes from Health Canada: the Sûreté du Québec has just   
   concluded an innovative and unprecedented investigation into the fight against   
   illegal cannabis    
   trafficking.   
      
   Published at 1:18 a.m. Updated at 5:00 a.m.    
   DANIEL RENAUD   
   INVESTIGATION TEAM, THE PRESS   
   WHAT THERE IS TO KNOW   
      
   The Sûreté du Québec dismantled a network of producers and traffickers who   
   illegally sold cannabis online.   
      
   More than 70,000 transactions, totaling 15 million, were allegedly carried out   
   by traffickers who were linked to organized crime.   
      
   The traffickers had obtained around forty permits to produce cannabis for   
   medical purposes issued by Health Canada.   
      
   For the first time, the police managed to obtain such permits under false   
   representations.   
      
   The investigation, called Postcure, led by investigators from the ACCES   
   Cannabis program (funded by the government) and the Contraband Investigation   
   Service of the Sûreté du Québec (SQ), began in February 2020, when Quebec   
   was on the point of being    
   frozen by health measures against COVID-19, and that the newly created   
   Société québécoise du cannabis (SQDC) was not yet very active in online   
   sales.   
      
   It all started when a Canada Post investigator noticed that individuals were   
   buying cases of 100 prepaid Xpresspost envelopes. These white padded envelopes   
   cost $14 to $23 each, and do not display sender information. Investigators   
   began by intercepting    
   envelopes in transit and found that they contained marijuana in various forms.   
   Some were intended for addresses located in around twenty villages in the Far   
   North of Quebec, according to a court document obtained by La Presse.   
      
   Buy without stress   
   One thing led to another and the sleuths learned that the envelopes were being   
   sent to consumers who had purchased cannabis online, on two websites.   
      
   “[Site Name] is one of the best online shopping websites for purchasing   
   marijuana on the East Coast, as we offer a huge selection of marijuana   
   products from British Columbia, Toronto and Montreal. Available for the   
   Montreal area, online purchasing of    
   marijuana, concentrates, edible products, cannabis and vaporizers is quick,   
   easy and stress-free,” announced one of them.   
   PHOTO OLIVIER JEAN, THE PRESS   
   The house in Saint-Lazare where investigators discovered cannabis plants   
      
   Shadowing and other investigative techniques then allowed investigators to   
   identify half a dozen places where cannabis plants were produced, notably in   
   Saint-Étienne-de-Beauharnois, Saint-Lazare and Montreal.   
      
   “We noticed that the production cell was operating under the cover of   
   registration certificates for medical purposes from Health Canada. In this   
   file alone, more than 40 certificates have been identified. So the cannabis   
   was produced in these places    
   and was then processed and shipped to customers,” explains Lieutenant Daniel   
   McCoy, group leader of the SQ’s Contraband Investigation Department.   
      
   PHOTO MARCO CAMPANOZZI, THE PRESS   
   Lieutenant Daniel Mc Coy, group leader of the SQ Contraband Investigation   
   Department   
      
   The investigators themselves, under the cover of anonymity, made cannabis   
   purchases on the two online sites.   
      
   But above all, and this would be a first in Quebec: through a company   
   belonging to one of the accused, they managed to obtain, with the help of the   
   company and a health professional from Ontario, two registration certificates   
   for the production of    
   cannabis for medical purposes from Health Canada.   
      
   PHOTO OLIVIER JEAN, THE PRESS   
   The house in Saint-Étienne-de-Beauharnois where part of the cannabis was   
   produced   
      
   Last year, La Presse revealed, supported by police testimony, that the federal   
   program had been hijacked by organized crime.   
      
   “We were able to obtain two certificates. One for the production of 482   
   plants, for a dose of 99 grams per day. It cost $2,000 plus taxes, with   
   consultation from a health professional. The second one was for 40 grams and   
   cost half the price. So, this    
   means that if you want more plants, the consultation costs you more,”   
   explains the lieutenant.    
   Impressive sums   
   Customers, who were mainly in Quebec, paid by Interac transfer for cannabis   
   purchased on the two sites. The sums were then transferred to at least thirty   
   bank accounts which changed continually, presumably to cover traces. After   
   obtaining bank orders,    
   investigators were still able to trace 70,000 transactions carried out since   
   the start of 2018, and forensic accountants established that these had totaled   
   15 million in a year and a half.   
      
   PHOTO MARCO CAMPANOZZI, THE PRESS   
   Lieutenant Daniel Mc Coy, group leader of the SQ Contraband Investigation   
   Department   
      
   This is the biggest file ever since the creation of ACCES Cannabis at the SQ.   
   We have blocked more than 7 million in buildings, bank accounts and cash   
   seizures. During the searches, we found amounts of money totaling $500,000.   
      
     Lieutenant Daniel Mc Coy, of the SQ   
      
      
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