Iqaluit (Oct 09/06) - A Quebec man will be spending much longer in Iqaluit than he had planned.

When Gatineau's Scott Russell Doster, arrived at the Iqaluit airport on Sept. 29, RCMP were waiting for him.

Doster was charged with trafficking marijuana and possession of property obtained by crime worth more than $5,000.

He had been in Iglulik from Sept. 13 until Sept. 29, and was apprehended thanks to help from the community.

"When communities work with the police to send a message to those people who want to profit from drugs in Nunavut, everyone benefits," said Cpl. Todd Walsh of the RCMP's V division drug unit.

Doster pleaded guilty on Oct. 2, and was sentenced to nine months in jail and one year probation. He also had to forfeit the cash he had made on his drug dealing sojourn, along with four carvings he had traded for marijuana.

Those carvings - two soapstone, one ivory and one made from a tusk - would have had limited resale value as they were not signed.

"The carvings were nothing significant in size or value, but we believe they were purchased illegally with the proceeds of crime," said RCMP Cpl. Randy Slawson.

Weed in that community last made headlines when Ed DeVries, a federal Marijuana Party candidate, Iglulik resident and admitted pot trafficker offered carvings - which he admitted he received in trade for marijuana - to the government for preservation. In September, DeVries was sentenced to six months in jail for drug-related crime.