Court case shows how cocaine traffickers got creative during N.L.'s COVID-19 restrictions

Ryan Cooke · CBC News

· Posted: Sep 03, 2026 11:09 AM EDT | Last Updated: 19 minutes ago

A pandemic-era police operation has resulted in findings of guilt against three men who concocted a scheme to bring more than $1 million worth of cocaine into Newfoundland amid COVID-19 travel restrictions.

Dion Wilson Lee Rodgers is the first of the trio to be sentenced for his role in importing 3.4 kilograms of cocaine stashed inside a pickup truck. The Dover man was sentenced to 39 months imprisonment.

The case offers a rare glimpse into the movements of narcotics to the island, especially during a time of heightened isolation.

"I accept that Mr. Rodgers was an integral part of the conspiracy to conduct a high-level trafficking operation in this province," Justice Leanne O'Leary said in her sentencing decision, which was published on Wednesday. "He facilitated the importation of a large quantity of high purity cocaine."

The investigation began in 2018 and centered on Steven Armstrong — an Ontario man who was making frequent, short trips to Newfoundland via the Marine Atlantic ferry system.

In December of 2019, investigators with the RCMP kept a close watch as Armstrong and Rodgers travelled in separate vehicles from Nova Scotia to Newfoundland. Officers moved in on Armstrong as he drove off the ferry in Port aux Basques. Despite their search efforts, they were unable to find any drugs in the vehicle.

The RCMP obtained warrants to track communications between an Ontario man believed to be involved in cocaine trafficking and his contacts in Newfoundland. (Olivia Garrett/CBC)

Throughout the early part of 2020, the RCMP went to court to obtain warrants to surveil and intercept Armstrong's communications.

Through the wiretaps, investigators heard Armstrong was planning to move a Honda Ridgeline from Ontario to Newfoundland in early 2020. The world had other plans.

The COVID-19 pandemic reached the island in March. Travel in and out of the province came to a screeching halt, throwing a wrench into Armstrong's plan to move the truck and its illicit contents.

"The government restrictions surrounding the pandemic at the time prevented his travel into the province," Justice O'Leary said. "Tracking of Mr. Armstrong’s communications revealed his ongoing efforts to get a vehicle to this province when he was prevented from travelling himself."

Travel opened up to the Atlantic provinces in the summer of 2020, and the investigation showed Armstrong began trying to reach Rodgers again in September.

"Mr. Armstrong called the home line of Mr. Rodgers and his stepfather," O'Leary summarized. "Mr. Armstrong advised [the stepfather] that Mr. Rodgers couldn’t let him down and he needed him to check his phone. The parties were using encrypted applications which could not be traced by the police for investigative purposes."

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Later that month, police followed Armstrong as he drove the Honda Ridgeline from Ontario to the ferry terminal in Nova Scotia. The investigation determined he'd prepared a bill of sale for the truck, with Rodgers listed as the buyer.

Police also watched on the other side of the gulf, as Rodgers and his stepfather drove onto the ferry in Port aux Basques. They watched as his stepfather took control of the Honda Ridgeline in the terminal parking lot in Nova Scotia.

Upon returning to Newfoundland, officers followed the truck across the island before pulling him over in Dover. They then encountered an unexpected problem.

"An initial search of the Honda Ridgeline revealed no drugs," O'Leary said.

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The surveillance didn't stop there. Police continued to track communications between Rodgers and Armstrong, and picked up a tidbit of information that led to another search of the truck soon after the arrest.

"The police located 3.4 kilograms of cocaine within a hidden compartment of the Honda Ridgeline," O'Leary said. "The compartment included a customized hydraulic release system within a modified passenger side air bag module."

The RCMP said the cocaine was worth an estimated $1.4 million.

Tests determined the drugs had a "very high" purity, ranging between 84 and 87 per cent pure.

An officer told the court at trial that the volume of cocaine would likely increase between two and four times after processing, cutting and packaging.

A jury found Rodgers guilty of conspiracy to traffic in cocaine.

Armstrong was initially charged in Newfoundland and Labrador, but his case was later shipped back to Ontario. He pleaded guilty and is scheduled to be sentenced on Sept. 10.

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