Anthony Clowe, Kurt Churchill to stand trial on drug-related charges

Anthony Cloweand Kurt Churchill will be heading to trial for their alleged roles ina high-profile cocaine trafficking investigation.

• 3-year sentence in Operation Battalion cocaine probe

Churchill, 38, is accused of conspiracy to traffic in cocaine and possession of cocaine for the purpose of trafficking.

Clowe, 52, faces two charges of money laundering and possessing property obtained by crime.

The pair were charged after police seized $300,000 hidden in the lining of two suitcases at an airport in Montreal in March 2014 as part of Operation Battalion.

Neither man wasin provincial court in St. John's when the case was called Monday. Instead, theywere represented by their lawyers.

Clowe is the father of former NHLer Ryane Clowe. Ryane Clowe is not implicated in Operation Battalion.

In April,Leroy Thomas, 40, pleaded guilty to money laundering, possession of cocaine for the purpose of trafficking, and possession of a prohibited weapon a set of brass knuckles.

According to an agreed statement of facts in the Thomas case,police began investigating Thomas, Kurt Churchill of Portugal Cove-St. Philip's, and others in 2013 after receiving information from sources that they were "high-level cocaine traffickers."