DRUG BUST A RECORD

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DRUG BUST A RECORD


Police Make 'Largest Seizure' Of Ecstacy -- 27,000 Pills


Windsor police seized a record 27,000 ecstasy pills and cocaine and pot worth more than half-a-million dollars and Friday issued an arrest warrant for one of the alleged traffickers.


"This is by far the largest seizure of ecstasy on the street in Windsor,"


said Windsor police Insp. Dave Rossell.


"This should put a pretty good dent, at least in the short term, in the ecstasy trade."


The 26,911 blue, red and white pills -- etched with innocuous logos like dolphins, cherries, apples and Superman's insignia -- were seized shortly after 1 p.m. Thursday when police raided a home at 1628 Chappell Ave. in the city's west end.


"There were pills everywhere," said Rossell. "I've never seen anything of this magnitude. This would be a significant seizure everywhere."


Police also seized 783 grams of cocaine, 347 grams of marijuana, $39,500 in US currency and $17,300 in Canadian bills -- money police are seeking to confiscate as the proceeds of crime. The estimated street value of the narcotics is $528,000.


Wasim Yousif, a 24-year-old resident of the Chappell Avenue home, was arraigned Friday on three counts of possession of narcotics for the purpose of trafficking and one count of breaching probation.


Police are still searching for his brother, 26-year-old Salwan Yousif, and have issued a warrant for his arrest.


Police don't know where the ecstasy was manufactured or where the other drugs came from but the cocaine was in brick form -- an indication the alleged traffickers had high-level connections.


"When you get it in that form, it indicates to us it was close to the source," said Rossell. "Where it comes from is the million-dollar question."


Police uncovered the drug cache through information obtained during Project Discount, an undercover operation that culminated with raids April 14 on three downtown locations.


A team of 40 cops, including the tactical unit, raided Low Price Convenience at Wyandotte and Church Streets, the neighbouring Blue Ocean Spa massage parlour and a home in the 400 block of Crawford Avenue.


Three Windsor women and two Michigan men were arrested on drug and prostitution charges and one of the men -- Nashwan Isho, 25 -- was connected to the Chappell Avenue home, say police.


"We were watching the target, we were buying drugs, we were watching who was coming and going," said Rossell.


"We followed people and they led us to this house."


Police will move to seize the cash as proceeds of crime. Rossell reiterated an appeal made last week by Chief Glenn Stannard for that money to be earmarked for policing in Windsor.


Cash and goods seized -- like the $500,000 in assets confiscated in April from a Windsor man accused of selling cocaine for the Hells Angels -- are placed in provincial coffers municipal forces can't access.