B.C. Mounties seize $2.6M in cash
CBC News
Posted: Nov 1, 2011 11:34 AM PT
Last Updated: Nov 1, 2011 7:26 PM PT
A Vancouver Island man is facing charges in what RCMP describe as one of the largest seizures of laundered money in Canada.
The RCMP's marine patrol seized more than $2.6 million US after intercepting a five-metre inflatable raft between Sidney, B.C., and the U.S. border.
RCMP Supt. Derek Simmonds said at a news conference Tuesday that officers spotted the small boat heading in the direction of the U.S. border in March.
He said someone in the rigid-hulled vessel tossed a suitcase overboard in Canadian waters and the Mounties retrieved the case and arrested the man.
Simmonds said investigators don't know where the cash came from or where it was headed, and little is known about the Lake Cowichan man who was allegedly transporting it.
"I think you have to look at the totality of the investigation — a boat, operating under cover of darkness. It was operating without lights, travelling in the direction of the border, carrying a significant amount of cash in a suitcase that's thrown overboard from the vessel," he said.
"I think there's a lot that can be understood from those actions."
Jeffrey Melchior, 44, of Lake Cowichan, is charged with possession of property obtained by crime and laundering the proceeds of crime.
With files from The Canadian PressShare Tools
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