Dozens of suspects appeared in court today in connection with the massive dismantling of a criminal ring that trafficked marijuana from Montreal to the Far North.

Police arrested 45 suspects on Tuesday, including alleged ringleader Marcello Ruggerio, 39, and 23 aboriginal suspects.

Police estimate the gang shipped between four and six kilos of marijuana every week -- all of it through the standard Canada Post mail service.

Police said that each individual gram of marijuana was individually wrapped, covered with pepper to mask the smell of the herb, and then rewrapped.

The weekly cash take is estimated at $250,000 net.

The Kativik police in Northern Quebec tipped off the RCMP based at Montreal's Pierre Elliott Trudeau Airport about suspicious packages being flown into their community in 2004.

On Tuesday, about 200 police officers carried out the raid targeting a marijuana greenhouse, people suspected of shipping the marijuana from Montreal, and those suspected of dealing it at the destination.

Gordon McGregor, the president of the police chief's association of aboriginal communities, said the bust was the result of keen cooperation between very different police forces.

"Today we see the results of this relationship, a network of drug trafficking was dismantled," McGregor said. "This network was taking advantage of our First Nations peoples and this has been stopped."

The need, he added, was enormous.

"We see high rates of suicide, we see a lot more violence, and we see more lot more situations where weapons are involved," McGregor told reporters.

The suspects face more than 300 charges including trafficking, conspiracy, gangsterism and money laundering.

A few suspects are still being sought.

In addition to marijuana, police seized two handguns, a rifle, a greenhouse, two houses and eight cars.

With a report from CFCF's Herb Luft