A Canadian narcotics task force has broken up a major drug ring that they say used three former high school classmates including a crooked Canada Customs agent to try to smuggle cocaine into Canada.

According to the Globe and Mail newspaper, two of the classmates picked up drugs in Guyana and were instructed to move them into Canada through the Customs agent at Pearson International Airport.

Staff Inspector Dan Hayes, head of the Toronto Police Services drug squad, said the Project Lester probe uncovered an operation in which the two “mules” (drug couriers) were each paid CDN$5,000 by an organised crime gang to travel to Georgetown, Guyana, and bring back suitcases of cocaine.

“The couriers were supplied with passports and suitcases, and advised that upon their return to Canada, they were to turn on their cellular telephone,” Insp. Hayes told reporters.

The importer then would call them and with a prearranged code tell them which Canada Customs line they should go to, where the compromised customs agent would allow their luggage into the country without inspection.

The three classmates are Natalie Morgan and Jahnoi Beckford, both of Toronto, whom police allege were the couriers, and Andrene Whittaker of Mississauga, 20, a Customs agent at Pearson.

Whittaker, 20, has been charged with two counts of conspiracy to import cocaine and with breach of trust. Morgan, 20 has been charged with one count of conspiracy to import drugs and one of conspiracy to traffic after she was arrested after allegedly passing through Pearson with a suitcase containing 11 kilos of cocaine. The third classmate, Beckford, 19, is in custody in Trinidad after allegedly being stopped with 13 kilos of cocaine.

Bonny Glancy, a director of intelligence with Canada Customs, said the arrested agent, Whittaker, had been an employee of Canada Customs for two years.

In a second operation broken up by Project Lester, an organised crime group was importing drugs via Port of Spain, Trinidad, through Pearson airport - with the help of airport workers, police said.

The drugs were hidden in suitcases or containerized cargo. For instance, 42 kilos of cocaine were found hidden behind a riveted false sheet metal roof in a container that arrived at Pearson from Port of Spain in June, and another 60 kilos were located by Trinidad police in a similar container in Port of Spain.

The drugs were to be unloaded in Toronto with the assistance of workers employed at the airport, Insp. Hayes said.

The third bust, code named Project Gallito, broke up an operation allegedly headed by Rayon Santo and Vinroy Carnakie, both of Mississauga, who are alleged to have been exporting marijuana to Bermuda hidden in small appliances, such as microwave ovens, and trying to ship 46 kilos of cocaine from Antigua to Toronto in two large gym bags. The latter shipment was intercepted by police acting on a tip.

The police believe that airport employees were once again involved. The employees planned to remove the bags from aircraft before they reached Customs.

“This, and other investigations, illustrate that some corrupt airport employees, who have access to secure areas and have knowledge of airport systems, are utilised by organised crime groups to facilitate their ventures,” a police statement said.

Three years ago, six Air Canada employees were among a group of 10 people arrested in connection with an international drug-smuggling ring at Pearson Airport.

Nine people have been arrested as a result of the busts announced yesterday, and arrest warrants were issued for six others, including four who live in the Caribbean, one being in Guyana.

The police said that, in all, they laid 71 charges against the group of suspects, ranging from one count of conspiracy to attempted murder, to numerous drug counts and two firearms charges.