Lawyer accused of conspiring to import a tonne of cocaine

Nova Scotia lawyer Raymond Joseph Yvon Lachapelle is facing multiple charges after an 18-month international drug trafficking investigation by the RCMP serious and organized crime unit that began in Cape Breton, but stretched across the country. The 53-year-old lawyer was arrested a day after RCMP executed search warrants on four residences across Nova Scotia on February 23. Police seized more than 25 firearms, ammunition, three prohibited weapons, a stolen vehicle along with a large amount of hashish, and cash.

Police say they disrupted 'an entire drug trafficking ring' with Colombian cocaine destined for Nova Scotia and across Canada. This is not the first time Lachapelle has been under investigation by the law society. He was found to have committed misconduct in 1999 after he misappropriated $71,000 from the estate of his late great aunt to pay for his cocaine addiction. Lachapelle wasn’t disbarred, instead he received a two-month licence suspension.