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Geschrieben von Katrin am 08.07.2008 um 15:01:

  Biker associate guilty in date-rape drug bust

Peter Small
Courts Bureau


Police scooped up 375 litres of GHB stashed in the garage of Toronto man linked to Hells Angels


An admitted Hells Angels associate has pleaded guilty to drug trafficking after 375 litres of the date rape drug GHB were seized from his Toronto garage, believed one of the largest such seizures in Canada.

Mark Figueiredo, 29, stood beside his lawyer Fred Shanahan in Ontario Superior Court yesterday and quietly admitted to several drug charges.

He acknowledged conspiring with six other men, five alleged to be Hells Angels members, to traffic in 600 litres of GHB, valued at $1.2 million.

The other cases are set for preliminary hearings in the fall.

Figueiredo also pleaded guilty to possession of cocaine for the purpose of trafficking after his Crawford St. home was raided.

Figueiredo was arrested as part of Project Develop, which charged alleged Hells Angels members in April 2007 following a series of police raids across southern Ontario. In May 2006, Toronto police raided Figueiredo's home and found cocaine worth $2,000 and a small amount of marijuana. They also found shirts supporting the Hells Angels motorcycle club, according to an agreed statement of facts read into the record by federal prosecutor Hugh O'Connell.

Police had placed Figueiredo under surveillance and in January 2006 saw him going to the home of a known Hells Angels member in the Yonge St.-Eglinton Ave. area. They saw him enter with several plastic bags, believed to contain GHB. A police agent, who was at the home, paid the Hells Angels member $1,600 for eight litres of the drug.

Acting on suspicion that Figueiredo was stashing GHB for Hells Angels members, police obtained a warrant and entered his garage. They found 375 litres of GHB loaded in five large containers. Toronto police Det. Al Rennie told the Star it was believed to be Canada's largest GHB seizure.

Figueiredo returns to court Oct. 7 for sentencing.


http://www.thestar.com/News/GTA/article/454831