DURHAM REGION -- The street value of cocaine seized as part of a drug investigation led by Durham Regional police has jumped to $54.5 million with a second stash discovered in a ship.
Another 100 kilos of cocaine was found hidden inside boxes containing food spice on board a ship that was stopped in St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands, and destined for an Etobicoke distributor. The coke was hidden inside cardboard dividers in 139 boxes, according to a police news release.
Durham Region Police, along with the RCMP and the Canadian Border Services Agency, combined forces in the original investigation that led first to the seizure of 276 kilograms of cocaine hidden in 551 boxes of hot sauce. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration was tipped off about the second shipment as a result of the original bust called 'Project Falcon'. The DEA searched the second ship in St. Croix on Christmas eve.
"Cocaine is everyone's enemy," Durham Chief Mike Ewles said at a news conference in Whitby Tuesday.
"This arrest will have an impact on the availability of the drug in the GTA."
Mahendrapaul Doodnauth, 45, of Etobicoke is charged with importing cocaine, conspiracy to import cocaine and possession for the purpose of trafficking.
The first seizure announced Tuesday -- with an estimated value of $40 million dollars -- was by far the largest amount of cocaine recovered by Durham cops. Another $14.5 million in drugs was seized as a result of the DEA raid.
-- with files from Jeff Mitchell
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