Kerry McCluskey
Northern News Services

IQALUIT (May 18/98) - Many of the people charged in Iqaluit's drug bust have had their trial dates set.

While some of the accused still have to return to Iqaluit's territorial court on June 16 to set a court date, others are scheduled to appear on Aug. 31 and Oct. 5.

Iqaluit territorial court deputy clerk Jacques Fortier said the 26 accused have been divided into four different groups based on the series of charges related to the drug bust which occurred earlier this year.

He added that each group will have a different trial date.

"We're basically looking at two months of trials for those," said Fortier, referring to the two-week period each of the groups is expected to take.

About a dozen of those charged with drug offences will remain in custody until their trials.

Lawyers from across the NWT -- as far away as Inuvik -- flew into Iqaluit last week to represent the accused and it is expected that more than 10 lawyers will be involved in the trial.