Nunavut RCMP seize cash, lay laundering charges

A British Columbia man faces a money-laundering charge following an RCMP seizure of cash at the Iqaluit airport.

This past May 4, members of the Nunavut RCMP drug section searched a man at the Iqaluit airport who was travelling from Iqaluit to Yellowknife with a large amount of currency in his luggage.

Police found $79,000 in cash and a small amount of hashish.

Joseph Lachapelle, 42, of British Columbia, now faces a charge of laundering the proceeds of crime and possession of a controlled substance.

After a court appearance, Lachapelle was released on a recognizance and is scheduled to appear before the Nunavut Court of Justice in September 2011.

Police seized this pile of cash at the Iqaluit airport May 4, then charged a B.C. man with laundering money obtained by crime. (RCMP HANDOUT PHOTO)