CAF and CCG Members Charged as a Result of Drug Investigation

Written by the Canadian Press 

February 10, 2016 

HALIFAX — Two former employees of the Canadian Coast Guard and the Department of National Defence are facing charges in Halifax following a drug investigation with ties to Colombian and Mexican drug cartels.

The RCMP allege the pair used their positions to gain access to information for criminal intent.

The police investigation, which started in the spring of 2013, uncovered evidence of conspiracies to import cocaine from Antigua, Brazil, Colombia, Guyana and the United States.

When the RCMP first announced the results of their investigation last year, they said multiple charges had been laid against people in Ontario, Quebec and Nova Scotia.

The Mounties also confirmed that among those charged was Ryan James Wedding, a former Olympic snowboarder who lives in Montreal.

The RCMP said they seized vehicles, firearms, drug paraphernalia, cash and more than 200 kilograms of cocaine.

In April 2015, 15 people were charged with 45 offences, including conspiracy to import cocaine and trafficking cocaine.

Additional charges were laid Tuesday against two of those accused, both of them from Nova Scotia.

Delbert William Meister of Halifax, a former employee of the Canadian Coast Guard, and Darlene Margaret Richards of Greenwood, N.S., who once worked with the Defence Department, have each been charged with breach of trust and possession of proceeds of crime.

The Canadian Press