Border services officers carried out half a dozen searches in Drummondville on Wednesday, including one at a cocaine importer convicted following a major investigation by the Sûreté du Québec conducted a decade ago, a observed The Press.
Posted at 7:11 p.m.
According to our research, one of the residences searched by investigators from the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA), on rue Notre-Dame, is that of Julian Andrey Mazuera, 43, an individual arrested and charged in the following the Loquace investigation conducted by the SQ in November 2012.
However, these are searches under investigation. No arrests were expected Wednesday.
The CBSA spokesperson declined to disclose the nature of the ongoing investigation or give The Press more details on Wednesday’s searches and the people targeted.
This operation is linked to a criminal investigation into potential breaches of border legislation. “However, in order not to jeopardize this investigation and to protect confidential information, we cannot release any details,” said CBSA spokesperson Dominique McNeely.
Parole revoked
The Loquace investigation targeted a consortium of six individuals who attempted to take control of the distribution of cocaine in Canada and resulted in the arrest of more than 90 people.
The investigators were able to count on the services of a civilian undercover agent who was the right-hand man of one of the six members of the consortium and who informed his police officers of all the transactions that passed through him.
Julian Andrey Mazuera was charged with importation of cocaine, possession of cocaine for the purpose of trafficking, trafficking in cocaine and concealment after the Loquace investigation and was sentenced to nine years in prison.
PHOTO provided by the SÛRETÉ DU QUÉBEC
Julian Andrey Mazuera in 2012.
He was granted full parole, but it was suspended in December and then revoked last month after the offender allegedly broke several conditions.
Over the past months and years, Mazuera reportedly found himself outside of a restricted territory, failed to answer his cell phone when called by authorities, was in contact with or encountered individuals involved in criminal activities, engaged in counter surveillance, owned more than one phone and refused to share billing records for those phones with his supervisor, according to a Commission decision of Canada’s parole issued recently.
We also learn in it that the parole board members were unable to communicate to him all the information contained in an intelligence report dated December 29, 2021 “without risking compromising the safety of a person or the holding of a lawful inquiry”.
To reach Daniel Renaud, dial 514 285-7000, ext. 4918, write to [email protected] or write to the postal address of The Press.