Ex-Saint John restaurant owner called 'kingpin' in J-Tornado drug trial

A former Saint John restaurant owner with underworld connections, who gathered evidence for police on his former colleagues, is the real criminal in the J-Tornado drug case, a defence lawyer alleged in court onTuesday.

"He was a kingpin," said Brian Munro during extensive cross examination of RCMP Cpl. Tony Dunphy about the man police hired to help collect evidence in the case.

"He had 50 [drug dealer]customers," Munro said of the man, who can't be identified due to a publication ban.

• Saint John drug trial told J-Tornado sting almost failed
• High-profile Saint John drug trial to hear from secret police agent

Munro is defending Shane Williams, the former operator of the east Saint John Big Shots sports bar, who was among over two dozen people arrested two years ago during a major interprovincial drug investigation police called Operation J-Tornado.

Police say Williams led one of two drug rings in Saint John with his partner Joshua Kindred. The co-accused are on trial together on various drug possession, trafficking and conspiracy charges.

Anthony Edison, who police say led the second drug ring, is still awaiting trial.

All Saint John suspects were snared through their interaction with a former colleague and Saint John businessman police hired to collect evidence, but Munro suggested that it was he who was at the top of the local drug pyramid all along.

Cpl. Dunphy worked closely with the man police hired and acknowledged he had a criminal past, but said he and his supervisor Sgt. Marco Vachon had put a stop to that before letting him work for police.

"Sgt.Vachon and I instructed him not to continue," said Dunphy.

Businessman had a history

The businessman was useful because he already had a history of selling secure cellphones to criminals in the Maritimes and police wanted to distribute phones to suspects they were investigating that could be tracked.

The businessman agreed to do it in exchange for up to $600,000,but police made him divest his other cellphone operation first.

Munro noted that before operations even started, police records show Anthony Edison approached the businessman asking to buy half a kilo of cocaine from him. That should have tipped police off to who the major drug dealer was, said Munro.

"Why would Edison think he could supply that much cocaine unless that was his reputation in Saint John already?" asked Munro.

Police documents in the case have disclosed the businessman "had contacts within organized crime groups in the Montreal area" and had made money illegally for several years by selling drugs and guns.

The businessman's own lawyer submitted documents to court acknowledging he had been involved with individuals enmeshed in organized crime in Canada but still police say that is all normal in a case like this.

Criminal connections useful

Vachon, who was lead investigator in the case, said police agents like the businessman in J-Tornado are chosen precisely because they are connected to criminals. Typically those people have grown tired of criminal activity "someone who decides to change his life," said Vachon.

But Vachon said police had no illusions about who they were dealing with in the J-Tornado caseand made sure to frisk their new employee every time he came to their secret location in Saint John during operations, even if he came three times a day.

Crown prosecutor Melanie Ferron asked why that was.

"To make sure he had no drugs. To make sure he had no guns. To make sure he had nothing on him," said Vachon.

The businessman is scheduled to testify in the trial later this week.