More charges in Operation H-Tort halted by delays

For the second time in as many days, two men have had drug charges dropped because it took authorities too long to get their cases to trial.

Thursdaymorning in Nova Scotia Supreme Court, the Crown withdrew charges against Craig Cox and Brian Joseph Boudreau.

The pair were among 28 people arrested in December 2012 as part of Operation H-Tort. Police seized more than 21 kilograms of marijuana and stacks of cash worth more than $100,000 in the operation.

More Operation H-Tort charges stayed

Just yesterday, two other people arrested as part of Operation H-Tort had charges against them stayed.

Mihai Apostol and Kenneth Greer were supposed to go to trial next month on drug trafficking charges, but Justice Josh Arnold ruled the case took too long to come to trial. It had been 46months.

In his decision, Arnold noted that both Apostol and Greer suffered because of the charges hanging over them for four years.

• Drug charges stayed against 2 men in major marijuana bust

Supreme court deadlines

Apostol had a career as an Olympic paddler and motivational speaker. Greer was a restaurateurwho got out of that business.

Trial dates for Boudreau and Cox were also set for next month. Now those dates will be freed up for other cases.

Operation H-Tort is just one case that's been caught by new deadlines imposed by the Supreme Court of Canada. In a decision this summer, the country's highest court set 30 months as the maximum amount of time police and Crowns have to complete cases. The deadline has left the justice system scrambling.