Multiple people, including three from Brantford and one from St. George, face charges and $205,000 worth of drugs have been seized after a joint-forces investigation led by Brantford police.
Project Carbon Copy was initiated in 2021 and focused on dismantling an organized crime group distributing large quantities of fentanyl from southern Ontario to the northern regions of the province, police said in a news release Wednesday.
Brantford police were assisted by Haldimand and Norfolk OPP and the Sault Ste. Mary font.
On April 14, members of the Brantford police searched five homes and a vehicle.
Just after midnight on April 14, officers with the Sault Ste. Marie police conducted a traffic stop of a rented vehicle in that city. Police arrested the four occupants of the vehicle, in which police say they found 12 ounces of suspected fentanyl with a street value of $168,000.
Charged with possession of fentanyl for the purpose to traffic are: Skyler Beal, 26, of Brantford; Jamal Gomes, 19, of Brantford; Alexis Rosebrugh, 21, of St. George; and Drew Pyne, 23, of Brantford.
Moments after their arrest, the involved police services simultaneously executed five search warrants.
Haldimand OPP say they found about $45,000 in Canadian currency concealed in the wall of a home on Arnold Marshall Drive in Caledonia. As a result of the search, Edison Beal, 26, has been charged with possession of fentanyl for the purpose to traffic, trafficking in a controlled substance, and possession of the proceeds of crime.
Brantford police say they also searched a Darling Street apartment and located material related to cooking fentanyl.
A third home on Pearl Street was also searched by Brantford police.
Sault Ste. Marie police conducted a search at an apartment in that city and say they found quantities of suspected cocaine, fentanyl, crystal methamphetamine and two canisters of oleoresin capsicum (OC spray). As a result of this search, Shawn Saunders, 43, of Sault Ste. Marie, is facing a number of drug and weapons charges.
After a search of an adjoining apartment in Sault Ste. Marie, police say they found a quantity of suspected crack cocaine, fentanyl and crystal methamphetamine. Shannon Morin of Sault Ste. Marie has been charged with possession of a controlled substance.
In all, 10 people were charged but Brantford police did not provide details for the others.
Project Carbon Copy, funded by the provincial government and supported by Criminal Intelligence Service Ontario, “will help minimize the threat to our communities caused by the distribution of controlled substances, including synthetic opioids,” says the news release. “By disrupting the operation of criminal networks, our goal is to assist our communities by reducing the violence surrounding the trade of illicit substances.”
Brantford Police Chief Rob Davis said Project Carbon Copy is an “excellent example of the significant cross-agency collaboration necessary to combat the illicit drug trade.”
“It illustrates that crime in Brantford is evolving,” said Davis. “It is a lucrative hub for distribution. The proponents that appeal to legitimate business also apply to criminal enterprise. By disrupting the operation of criminal networks, our goal is to assist our community by not only removing drugs from our streets, but by also reducing the violence surrounding the trade of illicit substances in Ontario.”