Three Quebecers, who were spectacularly arrested in a condo in Lima earlier this month in the wake of an international investigation against cocaine importers, will remain imprisoned for another eight months in Peru even if they are not not charged yet.
This is what a Peruvian judge decided on Saturday evening, after hearing and evaluating the evidence for three days.
In Peru, an individual can be detained while the investigation continues, even if he is not yet charged.
Francis Toupin-Bergevin, 34, Bô Soleil Morin-Lachance, 27, and Frédéric Dewald, 25, were detained for an initial period of 15 days to allow the authorities to continue gathering evidence against them, but the judge ordered an extension of an additional eight months.
“At least two of the three individuals should not be detained in Peru. According to my analysis of the evidence, a prosecutor in Canada would not be able to lay charges against them,” denounces Ms.e Marc-Antoine Rock, Quebec lawyer for Francis Toupin-Bergevin, the only one of the three Quebecers arrested in Peru who has a criminal history.
Me Rock speaks fluent Spanish and is in almost daily communication with Peruvian lawyers.
In collaboration with the RCMP
According to what we know so far, Toupin-Bergevin, Morin-Lachance and Dewald were arrested during an operation by the Peruvian police against a network of drug traffickers presumably led by the owner of a self-defense school in Lima.
The operation was carried out as part of an investigation also involving the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) and the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) .
It was even C Division (Quebec) of the RCMP that launched the investigation last summer. Sergeant Charles Poirier told The Press that the network would have had the capacity to export several hundred kilograms of cocaine monthly and that 164 kilograms had been seized since the start of the investigation, about sixty on Canadian soil and the rest in Peru.
Three other Quebecers have been arrested in Canada, added Sergeant Poirier, according to whom the investigation is continuing.
According to evidence from Peruvian authorities, the network allegedly exported quantities of cocaine varying between 15 and 30 kilograms hidden in shelving units, motors and curtain rods, between May and December 2022.
Los Nordicos
Nicknamed “los Nordicos” (the Nordics) by the Peruvian police, Toupin-Bergevin, Morin-Lachance and Dewald were subject to tailings, searches and statements from a “special agent”, obviously an agent of infiltration.
According to our information, Dewald – surnamed Blanco or Blanquito (the White or the little White) by the Peruvian police – was the one who acted directly with the alleged leader of the Peruvian network and owner of the self-defense school.
The Peruvian police suspect him of being involved in certain imports and of having transferred funds through a cryptocurrency company. Accounting would also have been found.
As for Toupin-Bergevin and Morin-Lachance, the special agent maintains that they would have acted as “supervisors” of Dewald, so as to prevent problems.
Still according to this special agent, Morin-Lachance was also the one who informed the Canadian “financier” of imports into Canada, a certain Victor.
The wind
“My lawyer in Peru says there’s nothing in there to hold anyone back and compared to what the police blame others for, it doesn’t work. There is an undercover agent, but there, we know, the police are corrupt. My lawyer says that the special agent does not even know Bô Soleil”, plagues the mother of the latter, Annick Lachance.
“My son is not accused of anything. He was in the wrong place at the wrong time. My lawyer says there is no evidence against him, it’s hearsay, wind! “, she adds.
According to Mme Lachance, his son and Frédéric Dewald are longtime friends. According to our verifications, the two men run a holding company together and also have a business with Toupin-Bergevin.
She claims that her son accumulates a little money and that as soon as it is done, he travels. He had arrived in Peru in December.
Bô Soleil lives from his art. He does graphics, a lot of logos, but he doesn’t traffic cocaine, otherwise he would be rich. He would have a house, a car, he would have things, but he has nothing. He does not have money.
Annick Lachance, mother of Bô Soleil Morin-Lachance
According to Mme Lachance, his son and the other two are being held in harsh conditions in Peru. “For a week, they had nothing to eat, no clothes, no blanket, they slept on the floor, in shorts,” she laments.
She contacted the Canadian consulate in Lima, but regrets having received few responses to her requests. She wants the RCMP to put pressure on improving the conditions of detention of her son and the other two.
“We will put pressure on the Canadian government and the consulate. Canada cannot wash its hands of the fact that at least two of its fellow citizens are being held in such conditions when the evidence is thin and they are not charged,” said Ms.e Marc Antoine Rock.
“They are not accused of anything. If so, I would understand. But there, the authorities are not even able to charge them and they are asking for nine more months before going to trial. How long are they going to keep them that way? It doesn’t make sense,” concludes Bô Soleil Morin-Lachance’s mother.
With Mathieu Perrault, The Press
To reach Daniel Renaud, dial 514 285-7000, ext. 4918, write to [email protected] or write to the postal address of The Press.