Cross-border drug trafficker arrested in Halifax; drugs and cryptocurrency seized

RCMP in Nova Scotia and other provinces teamed up with officials from Homeland Security in the United States to stop an international drug trafficking operation that was based in Halifax.

Cpl. Chris Marshall said Operation Hackstone was a first-of-its-kind investigation in Nova Scotia because it involved the dark web and cryptocurrency transactions.

Members of the RCMP’s federal serious and organized crime unit (FSOC) in Nova Scotia, Quebec and Ontario were involved in the investigation, along with Homeland Security Investigations and other RCMP units.

The investigation started in February when U.S. investigators contacted RCMP about opioid drugs being trafficked to the United States and across Canada from Nova Scotia, advertising them on websites on the dark web and taking crypto payments.

RCMP investigators tracked the operation to Halifax, finding that the drugs were being sent by mail to both countries. A number of them were intercepted by police, and on Aug. 30, RCMP arrested 37-year-old John Nicholas Allen-Simac while executing several search warrants throughout HRM.

Marshall said the searches happened at several properties.

“I know he was arrested at a home in Halifax, but I don’t know what the other types or properties were,” he said. “They weren’t other private dwellings, but I don’t know if they were storage lockers or something like that. They were all connected to him.”

Police seized hydromorphone, Dexedrine, ketamine, MDMA, Xanax and other prescription medications, receipts, shipping labels, packaging, electronic devices and a 2021 Toyota Rav4.

They were also able to locate, extract, and seize crypto-wallets associated to Allen-Simec.

Marshall said he wasn’t given the value of the cryptocurrency.

Allen-Simec is charged with six counts of exporting a controlled substance from Canada. Five of those involve hydromorphone and one covers amphetamine.  He is also facing four counts of trafficking a controlled substance, with three involving hydromorphone and one involving amphetamine. There are also two charges of possession of a controlled substance for the purpose of trafficking and two of possession of a controlled substance for the purpose of exporting.

He was released on conditions and will appear in Halifax provincial court on Nov. 6.

“As a result of this investigation… the Nova Scotia Federal RCMP were able to ensure fewer dangerous drugs will reach the streets of North America, while supporting our partner law enforcement investigators with Homeland Security Investigations in the United States and Canada,” Supt. Jason Popik, the federal policing criminal operations officer with the Nova Scotia RCMP, said in a release.

“Criminal actors are relentless in their attempts to exploit the anonymity of the Dark Web to traffic illicit drugs into our communities,” Magdalena Sigur of  Homeland Security Investigations said in the release. “The global nature of cyber-enabled crime commands strong partnerships between Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and our international law enforcement partners. Operation Hackstone is an excellent example of HSI’s close partnership with Nova Scotia RCMP and the results that can be accomplished through international unified efforts.”

Last month, RCMP and HSI announced what is believed to be the largest cocaine bust ever in western New York state, which had connections to Nova Scotia. 

Operation Heinze led to the arrest of seven people in Buffalo and Nova Scotia and the seizure 477 kilograms of cocaine worth about $470 million in street value, $170,000 in cash, $120,000 in silver bars and coins, electronic devices, and six vehicles.

Marshall said there is no connection between the two cases.