Home | Article Archives | Entertainment | Classifieds | Contacts | Newspaper Archives | Media Kit | Subscription | Email Us |
The Laval Police have arrested a Laval man, after they seized 5,000 blank credit and debit cards. Dexter Anthony Johnson, 37, is suspected of being involved with local street gangs and of having Pakistani criminal connections. He was arraigned at Laval’s Palais de Justice last Monday. He faces credit card fraud charges. Police raided his home on Zephyr Street in Ste-Dorothée on Jan. 29.
And drug charges
They were tipped off by the Canadian Border Services Agency, which had seized several sheets of holograms used only for security purposes on credit and debit cards. The holograms were in a package being mailed from Pakistan to Johnson’s home. At the same time, the police laid charges against Johnson for possession of marijuana, methamphetamine and other illegal street drugs. They also seized several driver’s licenses and pieces of high-tech equipment often used to commit fraud, with an estimated value of $25,000.
“We got a call from Canadian Border Services,” said, Cst. Frank De Genova, an information officer with the Laval Police, noting that the agency found a suspicious package among the thousands it screens regularly. Since the holograms found within looked exactly like those on Visa and MasterCards, they informed the Laval Police so they could intervene. A background check on Johnson revealed a short criminal history.
Anti-gang squadron
In addition, according to De Genova, Johnson was known to have dealings with street gangs. The Escouade régionale mixte (ERM), a squadron composed of police detectives from police forces on the North Shore and Laval that deals with gang-related crime, was mandated to raid Johnson’s home. A two-week investigation preceded the arrest. Johnson was the only person found at the address. Among the equipment seized were two desktop computers and three high-end laptops, sophisticated digital image scanners and a top notch HP printer.
With the sophistication of the operation, he would have been able to produce thousands of fake credit and debit cards that would have been virtually indistinguishable from the real thing. Although Johnson was released on bail on Tuesday, he will be back in court on March 19. The drugs found were not in sufficient quantities to warrant trafficking charges. Instead he is charged with simple possession. “He is related to street gangs,” Di Genova added. “What do these guys deal in? Prostitution, gun running, drugs, fraud. It all seems to fit.”