Elderly N.Y. couple was kidnapped, smuggled to Quebec over drugs, police testify

Trial begins for man accused of kidnapping couple The trial begins for a Quebec man accused of kidnapping a senior couple from New York, who were then held hostage in the Eastern Townships.

A Quebec provincial police investigator told the court Thursday that an upstate New York couple was kidnapped and smuggled into Quebec in 2020 in connection with a drug trafficking case involving their grandson.

Sûreté du Québec Investigator Guillaume Poirier was testifying at the trial of Gary Arnold, a Quebec man facing seven counts in connection with an alleged plot to kidnap Americans James and Sandra Helm.

The couple, in their 60s, was abducted from their home in Moira, New York, on Sept. 27, 2020. A ransom was demanded in exchange for their release, but they were found by the SQ two days later in Magog, in the Eastern Townships.

Investigator Poirier testified that six days before the kidnapping, their grandson Mackenzie Helm was arrested in the United States by the DEA in possession of 50 kilos of cocaine.

- This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on Jan. 12, 2023