Sentencing hearing to begin for Todd Dube, suspected head of Yellowknife drug ring

The man alleged to be the head of a sophisticated drug network in Yellowknife is scheduled to be sentenced this week.

The sentencing hearing for Todd Dube begins Wednesday in Yellowknife.Police believeDube headed up a drug ring that sold fentanyl, cocaine and other drugs, and led to the biggest drug bust in the territory in the last 10 years.

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The 22-year-old was charged in April 2016 after policeraided six locations in the Yellowknife area. It was part of alengthy RCMPinvestigation called "Green Manalishi."

They seized 1,200 fentanyl pills, four kilograms of cocaine, 16 pounds of marijuana, 11 litres of liquid codeine,$75,000in cash,10 guns and several vehicles. Police monitored a24-hour drug trafficking operation, which utilized an extensive network of taxi cabs, street level drug traffickers and stash locations.

In all, 28 people were arrested.

Earlier this year,Dube'ssister, Brittany, and another lower-level member of the operation, EddyRadeka, were both sentenced to five years in prison for their part in the drug ring.

Brittany Dube worked for Jerrie's Delivery Service, which police say was a front for drug sales. It operated using a "dial-a-dope" phone hotline that averaged two ouncesin crack cocaine sales a day.

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Norman Hache, another Yellowknife man arrested during the raids, alsoreceived a five-yearsentence for selling crack and powdered cocaine in Yellowknife, Fort Smith, Hay River and Fort Resolution.Police moved in on him after getting a warrant, and listening in on and reading hundreds of his phone calls and texts.

Northwest Territories courts routinely hand out harsher sentences for fentanyl trafficking than cocaine trafficking because of the dangers associated with the deadly opiate.

Dube's sentencing hearing is expected to take two days.

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