'Extraordinary seizure of cocaine': N.S. RCMP credit international investigation for disrupting drug ring

Nova Scotia RCMP says an international investigation has disrupted a transnational drug ring and led to the seizure of a large amount of cocaine, about $170,000 in cash and $120,000-worth of silver bars.

Nova Scotia RCMP says an international investigation has disrupted a transnational drug ring and led to the seizure of a large amount of cocaine, about $170,000 in cash and $120,000-worth of silver bars.

In a news conference Tuesday, RCMP announced a 16-month investigation culminated in the arrest of 37-year-old Ahmed El Kady last month, who police say was carrying 433 kilograms of cocaine destined for Canada.

El Kady — who is from Hamilton, Ont., but has ties to Nova Scotia’s drug trade — was arrested in Buffalo, New York, by officers with Homeland Security Investigations, police said.

“Working with the RCMP’s Federal Policing in Ontario, and partners across the country and in the USA, we disrupted a criminal network operating across the Canada-USA border and into our province,” Supt. Jason Popik, federal policing criminal operations officer with the Nova Scotia RCMP, said in a statement.

As a result of the investigation and seizure, Popik said fewer dangerous drugs will reach Atlantic Canada.

In spring 2022, officers with the Nova Scotia RCMP’s federal policing unit identified a criminal group involving El Kady that was importing drugs into Canada from the United States, police said.

“When we look at the CBSA logs we know that the individual in Ontario was traveling back-and –forth in excess of 94 times over the last two years,” said Popik.