The RCMP announced Wednesday that they broke up a major organized crime ring in Montreal, one that used sophisticated chemistry to conceal the drugs in asphalt.

Police arrested 15 people Wednesday morning in the Montreal area, and laid new chargest to some who were already in jail.

In a press release, the RCMP said the arrests were the second phase of a larger investigation they began in 2010.

Police said the crime ring used an unusual method to hide the drugs. The suspects used an advanced chemistry process called “molecular docking” to hide cocaine in shipments of asphalt flown from Colombia, through Mexico, and on to Montreal. This process would chemically bind the drug with the asphalt. A chemist would then extract the drug out of the asphalt once it arrived in Canada, police said.

RCMP spokesperson Sgt. Luc Thibault said they have never seen such a sophisticated method to smuggle in drugs.

Thibault said the Canadian Border Services Agency officers were suspicious of an unusually large commercial shipment of asphalt at Trudeau airport in September 2011.

They seized the bags totaling 700 kg and took a closer look at the cargo. The bags contained a grainy black and white asphalt mixture, which they later discovered included cocaine.

Jacqueline Roby, a communications officer for the CBSA, said the border officers used a special chemistry tool used to detect narcotics and explosives.

The RCMP said the network was trafficking drugs in the Montreal area, as well as in the Atlantic provinces.

Investigators were targeting the leaders and key players forming the Silvano cell. This cell was linked to two major traditional organized crime cells, the Bastone and De Vito cells, that were dismantled in a round-up in June 2014.

The accused listed below face a number of charges, including gangsterism and drug importation, trafficking and possession. They will appear in court in Montreal Wednesday afternoon by videoconference.

The police are still searching for two other suspects: Mathieu Bouchard, 37, and Mike Di Battista, 39.

The list of people charged and arrested can be found on the RCMP's press release here.