A former London police officer who resigned while facing a criminal charge five years ago is one of several Southwestern Ontario residents swept up in an OPP-led drug and gun investigation.
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Provincial police officers from various units, along with London and Woodstock police, searched three vehicles and five properties in London, Woodstock, Wallaceburg, Tillsonburg and Middlesex County on Tuesday following a months-long investigation, the OPP said Thursday.
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Investigators seized $194,000 worth of drugs including suspected fentanyl, cocaine, methamphetamine, oxycodone and magic mushrooms, along with a shotgun, ammunition, knives, a stun gun, electronic devices, drug paraphernalia and cash, OPP said.
Three men and two women face drug and weapons charges. Among the accused is a former London police officer Sergio Mendez, 39, who is charged with possession of cocaine, fentanyl and methamphetamine for the purpose of trafficking.
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In 2018, Waterloo Regional police charged Mendez with breach of trust after they were contacted by London police in July 2017 regarding the on-duty and off-duty conduct of an officer, a Waterloo Regional police spokesperson said at the time.
Mendez, a constable with five years experience, had been suspended with pay since March 2017.
Court documents showed the charge was related to an allegation of releasing confidential police information between February 2016 and March 2017.
But the Crown withdrew the charge in March 2019, despite telling the court there was a reasonable chance of conviction and that prosecuting the case would be in the public interest because Mendez was someone entrusted with upholding the law.
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Mendez had recently resigned from the force and the case had “unusual complexities,” Crown attorney Michael Carnegie said at the time.
“Your honor, this was a close call, but the realistic prospect that these proceedings would become protracted, indeed unpredictable, and not result ultimately in convictions was balanced against the certainty that Mr. Mendez will no longer be entrusted to serve this community as a police officer,” Carnegie told the court.
Mendez’s lawyer said his client was
suffering from a work-related psychological injury and other unspecified health issues.
The withdrawn charge meant no details about the case against Mendez were ever made public and his resignation from the force ruled out any charges under the Police Services Act, the law governing policing in Ontario under which departments hold disciplinary hearings into professional misconduct.
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Mendez was a
founding member of the Canadian Association of Latino Peace Officers, an organization created to build connections between law enforcement professionals and local Latino communities.
Also charged in this week’s bust is a 30-year-old London woman, who faces three counts of drug possession for the purpose of trafficking, various gun-related offenses and a charge of failing to comply with a release order. A 44-year-old Tillsonburg man, a 38-year-old Woodstock woman and a 41-year-old Woodstock man are charged with drug possession for the purpose of trafficking.
All of the accused remain in custody and are scheduled to appear Friday in a Woodstock court.
“This investigation is the culmination of great collaboration between the OPP community street crime units and our municipal policing partners,” OPP Det.-Staff Sgt. Charles Lorway of the organized crime enforcement bureau said in a statement.
“These arrests will have a significant impact on the illicit drug culture in southwestern Ontario and will have a very positive impact on public safety.”
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