Adam Johnson
Northern News Services
Friday, June 8, 2007

YELLOWKNIFE - Yellowknife RCMP made a "significant" drug bust in late May, closing the trap on a package of cocaine sent from Costa Rica and its recipient.

"I've never seen a package come from that far away," said Sgt. Larry O'Brien, media relations with the RCMP's G Division Drug Section.

Yellowknife resident Vincent Gosselin, 22, has been charged with importing a controlled substance, possession for the purpose of trafficking in a controlled substance and possession of a controlled substance after a package of cocaine was found at a Yellowknife residence.

O'Brien said the package was first intercepted by U.S. Customs agents in Memphis, Tennessee, who then alerted the Drug Enforcement Agency who passed the tip in to the RCMP.

At that point, a plan was hatched to let the package continue to Yellowknife, under close scrutiny from both departments.

"It's what we call a controlled delivery," O'Brien said. "It's a technique we use from time to time."

With the trap set, all that was left was to see who would pick the package up.

On May 26, RCMP observed three individuals collecting the package. Only Gosselin was charged. He will appear in Territorial Court Tuesday, June 12.

"Everything was great. The operation went smoothly," said O'Brien, who was surprised by the DEA tip.

"We're not a border crossing, and we don't have any drug access to the U.S."

In a separate bust, RCMP intercepted a kilogram of cocaine, 30 tablets of what is believed to be ecstacy and an undetermined amount of crack cocaine in two vehicles 60 kilometres south of Behchoko on Highway 3.

Three men were arrested from the vehicles, which were en route to Yellowknife, and charged with possession of a controlled substance.

One of the men fled into the woods near the highway, but was later found by RCMP Police Dog Services.

O'Brien said charges have been laid, but he did not have details at press time.

An official "show and tell," where the amounts seized would be made more clear, is scheduled for today.