A 63-year-old man from Grand Falls, N.B., has been sentenced in connection with two lengthy RCMP investigations into drug trafficking.
On April 8, 2022, Normand Godbout appeared by tele-remand in the Bathurst Court of Queen's Bench and was sentenced to seven years for conspiracy to traffic cocaine minus time already served. He has been in the custody of Corrections Canada since July 16, 2021.
Godbout was arrested on May 22, 2018, as part of J-Thunder and J-Thunderstruck, two investigations led by the RCMP New Brunswick Federal and Serious Organized Crime Unit (FSOC) with the assistance of L'Escouade nationale de répression du crime organisé (ENRCO), which includes police officers from Montreal City and Laval as well as Sûreté du Québec and Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
The investigations began in 2016 and focused on the trafficking of cocaine on the Acadian Peninsula and in Restigouche, Madawaska and Victoria Counties. During the course of the investigations, police seized more than five kilograms of cocaine, and more than $900-thousand in Canadian currency.
On January 8, 2021, Godbout pleaded guilty to conspiracy to traffic cocaine.
Throughout the investigation, ten other people have been sentenced in connection with the two investigations, receiving sentences ranging from 90 days to 12 years in prison:
- Daniel Duguay from Saint-Irénée, sentenced to two years in prison on June 11, 2019.
- Eric Degrace from Évangéline, sentenced to eight years in prison on June 26, 2019.
- Julie Michaud from Allardville, sentenced to 90 days in prison on March 4, 2020.
- Jason Poirier from Inkerman, sentenced to four years in prison on March 11, 2020.
- Danny Smith from Allardville, sentence to 12 years in prison on September 11, 2020. He also received a $90-thousand fine.
- John Watson from Allardville, sentenced to three years in prison on January 11, 2021.
- Simon Dupuis from Québec, sentenced to 18 months in prison on January 19, 2021.
- Raymond Bertrand from Québec, sentenced to two years in prison on May 10, 2021.
- Emery Joseph "Pit" Martin, sentenced to seven and a half years in prison on October 18, 2021.
- Eric Doucet from Chamberlain Settlement, sentenced to five years in prison on March 29, 2022.
The New Brunswick RCMP continues to work collaboratively with other law enforcement agencies and the province of New Brunswick to disrupt and dismantle organized crime groups that are harming our communities with illegal activities. Anyone with information about, or who suspects, illegal drug activity in their neighbourhood is asked to contact their local police. Information can also be provided anonymously through Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477), by downloading the secure P3 Mobile App, or by Secure Web Tips at www.crimenb.ca.