Two men the Crown alleges ran a sophisticated cocaine ring in Kamloops are scheduled to go on trial in February, including on a charge they committed a crime on behalf of a criminal organization.
Richard Crawford and Steven Currie each face charges of committing an offence on behalf of a criminal organization and intent to commit an indictable offence. Due to the complexity of obtaining a conviction, the criminal-organization charge is seldom prosecuted.
When Kamloops Mounties first announced two years ago they had brought down a dial-a-dope operation in the city through an undercover operation, they said it had links to the United Nations gang.
All the other people charged in the drug ring have since pleaded guilty. What were termed five “employees” of the drug ring — drug couriers who met with clients at locations throughout the city — were given conditional sentences.
Cocaine wholesaler Jean Claude Auger was given a four-year term in jail. When police busted his home, they found $140,000 in cash hidden in a wall, as well as more than a kilogram of cocaine and a cutting agent used to dilute the drug.
The Crown alleges Currie and Crawford were at the top of the network operating in Kamloops in 2012.
The two-week trial is scheduled to begin on Feb. 15. A hearing is scheduled in November to determine whether some Crown evidence will be entered in the trial.
