Three Residents Charged Over Drug Smuggling

Pennsylvania authorities charged 11 people, including three St. Lawrence County residents, over their alleged roles in a drug smuggling operation that moved about $6 million worth of marijuana.

The four-year investigation exposed a pipeline moving about 2,000 pounds of marijuana from the North Country to Pennsylvania and several East Coast cities, the Pennsylvania attorney general's office said. The crime syndicate is alleged to have moved the marijuana, which came from Canada through the St. Regis Mohawk Reservation, from December 2005 to June 2008.

The ringleader of the operation was John Murray, 35, Utica, authorities said. Two Massena residents and a Brasher Falls man provided the marijuana to Mr. Murray.

The St. Lawrence County residents charged were Andrew Phelix, 26, of 74 County Route 53, Brasher Falls, Kyle Ward, 25, of 153 Carey Road, Massena, and Justin Beaulieu, 26, of 53 Malby Ave., Massena.

All three were charged July 16 with two counts each of possession with intent to deliver marijuana and corrupt organizations and single counts each of criminal conspiracy and dealing in proceeds of unlawful activity, officials said. Mr. Murray also faces the same charges.

Mr. Ward and Mr. Beaulieu reportedly would drive marijuana shipments from the North Country to a New Hartford home, court records show. Mr. Murray would drive up to Mr. Phelix's home in Potsdam on several occasions to pick up large marijuana shipments to bring back to Pennsylvania. The marijuana was primarily sent to State College, Pa., home of Penn State University.

"This is an example of how our narcotics agents work diligently to move up the supply chain," Pennsylvania Attorney General Thomas Corbett said in a press release. "A major focus of our investigations is the distributors and traffickers responsible for shipping these drugs into our communities."

The Massena village police department assisted Pennsylvania and federal authorities in the investigation.