The administration of the mayoress of Montreal, Valérie Plante, describes as worrying the suspicions of drug trafficking which weigh on the giant of the waste Ricova.
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The company is under the magnifying glass of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police for possible drug trafficking. A drug trafficker even helped the police in their investigation in Colombia, our Investigation Office revealed on Friday morning.
Despite this, the Plante administration does not think it can get rid of Ricova.
“Although the suspicions raised in The Journal of Montreal are of concern, they do not legally justify the termination of a contract, ”said the mayoral team in a written statement.
Strong tensions
Ricova is a major player in waste management for the City of Montreal. It currently operates the two recycling sorting centers and is responsible for 25% of waste collections.
For months, calls to terminate Ricova’s contracts in Montreal have been increasing, and there are strong tensions between the City and the company.
Last March, the Office of Inspector General (BIG) demanded that the management contracts for the Lachine and Saint-Michel sorting centers be terminated.
According to the OIG, Ricova defrauded the City of at least $1 million by not sharing the profits from the sale of recyclable materials as it should.
Indeed, the subsidiary Ricova International, responsible for sales abroad, took a profit of at least $20 per ton of materials without disclosing it in Montreal. More than 150,000 tonnes of waste are processed in Montreal sorting centers each year.
The Plante administration has since blacklisted Ricova, preventing her from obtaining new contracts. A decision that the company has decided to challenge in court.
Ricova defends herself
Reacting to the broadcast of our report, the boss of Ricova, Domenico Colubriale, reiterated that he had no connection with organized crime.
“I repeat what I said a few months ago when another outlet tried to spread these lies about us. I do not do business with criminals and I never will,” Colubriale said in a statement.
He claims never to have been approached “by the police about investigations” on him or Ricova.
“It is completely impossible that we could be involved in traffic coming from Colombia, because we have no imports from this country entering Canada,” defended the boss of Ricova.
A contract about to be terminated
Two weeks ago, the City of Montreal announced that Ricova’s contract for one of the two sorting centers, that of Lachine, would be terminated no later than November 14.
By this date, a new operator, Société VIA, will take over.
The reasons given are the poor quality of sorting and Ricova’s inability to sell recyclable materials.
According to Valérie Plante’s team, this shows that they have “the situation well in hand”.
The official opposition at City Hall, Ensemble Montréal, thinks just the opposite.
“Over-contaminated bales of paper sent overseas, revenue of at least $1 million that has not been paid to the City and now suspicions of drug trafficking through containers. Meanwhile, the Plante administration claims to have the situation well in hand. Scandals have to reach what level of seriousness for Projet Montréal to realize that nothing is going right anymore? protested the leader of Ensemble Montreal, Aref Salem.
He assured that he will follow the mayor and her team on Tuesday in a special meeting of the municipal council, which will focus solely on waste management at the City of Montreal.