[7] In 1973, Desjardins accompanied Di Maulo and Paolo Violi to New York for the election of Philip Rastelli as the acting boss of the Bonanno family.
The boss of the Rizzutos had a policy of co-opting Cotroni family members in order to avoid disrupting existing operations and networks, most notably those with the Bonannos.
In the 1970s, they began trading arms for hashish with the Phalange, a right-wing Lebanese militia fanatically committed to upholding Maronite Christian supremacy in Lebanon.
[8] The hashish was brought by ship from Beirut to the Atlantic coast of Canada, where it was transferred to smaller boats and offloaded in Newfoundland and Nova Scotia.
The investigation started after the Rizzuto family hired a band of local criminals to break into a National Guard armory in Boston.
[12] The new operation began attracting attention on the Newfoundland mainland when local fishermen noticed mysterious convoys of trucks passing through their remote area at night.
[13] In December of that year, Desjardins, Rizzuto, and four others were arrested and charged by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) for attempting to smuggle hashish into the country by boat.
[4] The case against them was eventually dismissed in 1990 by the Newfoundland Supreme Count after it was discovered that officers of the RCMP had tried to record conversations between the accused and their lawyers during the trial.
[15][14][4] In 1991-1992, Desjardins was the target of another RCMP investigation, Project Bedtime, alleging that he had imported 50 tons of hashish from Libya, which was intercepted at the Port of Montreal following a tip, but no charges were ever brought against him.
[13] In the early 1990s, Desjardins was reportedly given the task of handling relations with the Hells Angels whose Montreal Nomads chapter was headed by Maurice Boucher.
[4] At the time, Desjardins held a job as a sale representative for Amusements Deluxe, a Montreal company that supplied billiard tables, pinball machines and video games to bars and convenience stores all over Canada.
[17] Desjardins had ties to outlaw biker gangs, and in 1993, he was arrested as part of an RCMP investigation called "Operation Jaggy" for his role in the attempted import of 700 kilos of cocaine from Venezuela together with the Hells Angels.
[19] On 25 August 1993, Desjardins was arrested as part of Operation Jaggy, and refused the Crown's offer of a plea bargain in exchange for testifying against Rizzuto.
[20] At the time of his arrest, Desjardins exposed a corrupt RCMP officer, Jean Lord, whom he revealed had been trying to sell him information, which he hoped would lead to a reduced sentence.
[16] In 2004, Vito Rizzuto was indicted by a Brooklyn grand jury for his involvement in a 1981 triple murder and was eventually extradited to the US to stand trial.