Tracey B. Fitzpatrick, 53 years old, pleaded guilty yesterday to charges of importing fentanyl and other illegal drugs, at the Montréal courthouse. The resident of Woodland, Ontario, was sentenced to 12.5 years in prison.
Tracey B. Fitzpatrick imported drugs to various postal outlets in Montréal and Ottawa. She used about ten false identities to mislead authorities.
From Germany to Canada
In September 2018, the German customs authorities in Frankfurt informed the RCMP that they had intercepted a package. It contained heroin and chemicals that could be used to make methamphetamine. The drugs were concealed inside electronic equipment. The package had been destined for a postal outlet in Kirkland, Quebec.
Many false identities and postal outlets used
With this information, the RCMP officers of the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit (CFSEU) immediately began their investigation in Canada. In October 2018, they observed Tracey B. Fitzpatrick going to the postal outlet in Kirkland. There, she picked up the drugs imported from Germany.
On the same day, the woman visited two other mail delivery outlets in Laval and St-Eustache. There, she picked up envelopes containing fentanyl. She was arrested, before being released as the investigation continued.
Tracey B. Fitzpatrick was arrested again a few weeks later, in November 2018. The police officers executed a search warrant at a storage locker rented under a false identity in Nepean, Ontario. At that location, they discovered cocaine and drug trafficking materials.
During the investigation, officers seized:
- 533 grams of heroin;
- 1,027 grams of a solid mix of phenylacetic acid and pseudoephedrine;
- 1,043 fentanyl patches;
- 31 grams of cocaine.