Amritbal Gill, 35, of Brampton, Itolo Mallozzi, 57, of Dufferin County, and Kevin Gowanlock, 49, of Orillia, face charges of importing an illegal substance, possession for the purpose of trafficking, and conspiracy to commit an indictable offence.
TORONTO – An Indo-Canadian man from Brampton is among three Ontario men who face smuggling and trafficking charges for allegedly sneaking into Canada a “significant amount” of drugs hidden in a shipping crate of rice.
Amritbal Gill, 35, of Brampton, Itolo Mallozzi, 57, of Dufferin County, and Kevin Gowanlock, 49, of Orillia, face charges of importing an illegal substance, possession for the purpose of trafficking, and conspiracy to commit an indictable offence, reported Toronto Sun newspaper.
Mallozzi remains in custody, while Gill and Gowanlock have been released on bail. All three are due to appear in Old City Hall court on Sept. 2.
The RCMP and the Canada Border Services Agency launched a joint investigation in early July after border guards at the Port of Montreal inspected a Toronto-bound sea container from India and found 80 kilos of Ketamine and 24 kilos of norephedrine hidden among hundreds of sacks of rice.
Ketamine is known on the street as Special K, and norephedrine is a chemical used to make amphetamines and other illicit drugs.
On July 27, RCMP officers arrested three suspects at a commercial business near Hwy. 27 and Woodbine Ave.
“The investigation commenced when CBSA officers inspected a Toronto-bound container with 500 bags of rice from India at Montreal port. The sleuths found ketamine and norephedrine concealed in rice bags,” said a police statement.
The bags recovered by RCMP had “Basmati rice” printed on them and the drug was concealed in several bags.
The modus operandi to smuggle the stuff was similar to that of Australian consignment. Australian Federal Police on September 25 last year had arrested three persons and seized drugs hidden in rice bags from India at Melbourne. It was one of the largest seizures in Australian history and was valued at around $200 million.
Former Punjab DGP (Prisons) Shashi Kant said that it is becoming clear that Punjab police were actually going after drug racketeers mainly due to pressure from international law enforcement agencies. “They have not worked due to their own volition as is being claimed by officials and their political masters but after foreign agencies exerted pressure on Indian authorities. It was due to multi-agency involvement that they worked,” he said.
