logo
Police seize drugs and cash, two Sault suspects charged

Police seize drugs and cash, two Sault suspects charged

CTV News5 hours ago

A drug investigation that began earlier this month in Sault Ste. Marie led police to seize $23,895 in cash, as well as illegal drugs with an estimated street value of $13,728.
City police, working with Ontario Provincial Police, arrested two suspects, ages 30 and 32, on June 18.
Loaded handgun seized during arrest of suspected drug dealer
Items recovered include a loaded revolver with ammunition. June 18, 2025 (Sault Ste. Marie Police Service)
Police were already investigating the 30-year-old for drug trafficking when they saw him get into a vehicle with the other suspect.
The pair was arrested following a traffic stop and police searched the vehicle.
Items recovered include a loaded revolver with ammunition, and drugs suspected to be 114.12 grams of cocaine, 14.91 grams of fentanyl, four oxycodone pills, cash, scales, drug packaging materials, a cutting agent and multiple cellphones.
Both were charged with several weapons and drug trafficking offences. The 32-year-old was also charged with failing to comply with an undertaking and the 30-year-old was charged with two counts of violating probation.
Both accused were held in custody pending bail hearings, police said.

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

B.C. coroner won't call inquest into death of Lisa Rauch, who was hit by police anti-riot rounds
B.C. coroner won't call inquest into death of Lisa Rauch, who was hit by police anti-riot rounds

Globe and Mail

time27 minutes ago

  • Globe and Mail

B.C. coroner won't call inquest into death of Lisa Rauch, who was hit by police anti-riot rounds

British Columbia's chief coroner is taking the unusual step of not calling an inquest into the death of Lisa Rauch, who died after being hit by two plastic bullets fired by a Victoria police officer. While an inquest is mandatory after deaths in police custody, Coroner Dr. Jatinder Baidwan said in a statement that Rauch wasn't considered in custody at the time of her death. The statement said the decision was made after considering the wishes of the woman's family. The coroner noted that the circumstances of the 43-year-old woman's death in December 2019 were also reviewed at a public hearing before former judge Wally Oppal at the direction of the B.C. Police Complaints Commission. Police misconduct ruling in death of B.C. woman Lisa Rauch Oppal ruled that Victoria police Sgt. Ron Kirkwood officer made a serious error in judgment when he fired the anti-riot weapon into a smoke-filled room and killed Rauch, but it wasn't malicious. Oppal ruled last week that Kirkwood should serve a seven-day suspension without pay, saying the fact that the officer and the family had to wait 5 1/2 years for the decision to be made was punishment enough.

Notorious B.C. pimp, trafficker has sentence reduced on appeal
Notorious B.C. pimp, trafficker has sentence reduced on appeal

CTV News

time33 minutes ago

  • CTV News

Notorious B.C. pimp, trafficker has sentence reduced on appeal

Reza Moazami is seen exiting Vancouver provincial court in this file photo from December 2011. (CTV News) Reza Moazami, a B.C. man who was convicted of 30 crimes involving the trafficking, pimping, sexual assault and exploitation of 11 young female victims, has had his prison sentence reduced. Moazami's 23-year-sentence – originally handed down in 2015 – was reduced to 20 years and eight months by B.C.'s Court of Appeal Thursday. Moazami was the first person ever convicted of human trafficking in B.C. His victims ranged from 14 to 19 years old, his crimes spanning a two-and-a-half-year period. 'It is important to point out, and indeed to stress, that the appellant's criminal conduct was grave and morally reprehensible. He engaged in predatory and exploitative criminal behaviour toward a large number of vulnerable young victims. His conduct was punctuated by coercion and sexual violence toward a number of them,' Justice Janet Winteringham wrote in a unanimous decision of the three-judge panel. 'Every one of the appellant's victims was an individual who suffered indignity at the hands of the appellant. All were traumatized, some severely, to the point that they continued to struggle years afterward.' Moazami appealed his sentence on multiple grounds and sought to introduce 'fresh evidence' about the misconduct of the lead detective on the case, Jim Fisher – who pleaded guilty of breach of trust and sexual exploitation involving one of the victims. The application to introduce this evidence was dismissed, as was Moazami's bid for a 'sentencing remedy' on constitutional grounds due to 'egregious misconduct by state agents,' according to the decision. Moazami claimed the sentencing judge made a number of legal errors, citing six grounds for appeal – all but one of which was rejected. The high court found an 'error in principle' made by the sentencing judge when weighing the aggravating factors in the case and imposing a sentence longer than the one proposed by Crown counsel. 'The judge justified this position, in part, because the appellant 'subjected these young, marginalized young women to the fear, stress, and aggravation of a long trial; he re-victimized the complainants and he lied to the court under oath,'' the appeal decision says, quoting in part from the sentencing decision. 'In my respectful view, when the judge explained the higher sentence, she linked it, in error, to the appellant's decision to proceed with a trial, and in some respects, to the manner in which the trial was conducted. I have concluded the error directly impacted the sentence,' Winteringham wrote, explaining that the court can consider a guilty plea as mitigating but should not treat the exercise of one's right to trial as aggravating. Given that error, the court found the judge did not have a legally sound reason to impose a sentence beyond the 20 years and eight months Crown proposed. 'The trial judge found a pressing need for denunciation and deterrence, a conclusion that has not been disturbed on appeal and is fully supported by the evidence at trial and sentencing,' Winteringham wrote. 'Clearly, the appellant's offending conduct called for a very lengthy penitentiary sentence.' Moazami also appealed a three-year sentence for attempting to obstruct justice and breaching court-ordered conditions, which was dismissed Thursday. That conviction stemmed from his violation of a no-contact order when he 'conspired with a cellmate' to try to prevent one of the complainants from testifying in the trafficking case.

Witness who encountered mom of missing Montreal toddler speaks out
Witness who encountered mom of missing Montreal toddler speaks out

CTV News

time44 minutes ago

  • CTV News

Witness who encountered mom of missing Montreal toddler speaks out

Claire Bell, 3, seen here moments after being found following a four-day search. (Source: Courtesy/Noovo Info) The mother of a three-year-old Montreal girl who was found alive after going missing for four days pulled up to a farm in eastern Ontario the day she reported her daughter missing and was 'confused' and 'rambling,' according to witnesses. Noovo Info spoke with one of them, who called 911 after later learning that the toddler was the subject of a vast search operation spanning two provinces. The witness and his mother encountered the girl's mother, 34-year-old Rachel-Ella Todd, Sunday when she drove up to their farm in St. Albert, Ont. and acted in a strange manner, he said. The witness spoke to Noovo Info on the condition of anonymity because of recent criticism of his family in recent days on social media. Their farm is about two kilometres from the location where the missing child was found Wednesday afternoon alone on the side of Highway 417 after being spotted by an Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) drone. The witness said he didn't pay much attention to the mother's behaviour, adding that he sometimes encounters 'odd people.' It was only several days later — Wednesday morning — that the witness contacted police after seeing a post circulating on Facebook about the missing child and her mother. 'We don't spend our days in front of the television,' he said in an interview. missing montreal girl People gather to watch police from the Ontario Provincial Police and Surete du Quebec brief the media on the discovery of a three-year-old girl after she went missing on Sunday, in St. Albert, Ont., Wednesday, June 18, 2025. (Christopher Katsarov/The Canadian Press) (Christopher Katsarov/The Canadian Press) Police announced Wednesday morning that they had spoken to a farmer, describing her as an important witness in the case. That interview with police was crucial in officers finding the child on the side the highway hours later. 'There should have been an Amber Alert,' witness says The witness said Thursday that authorities should have issued an Amber Alert to help locate the child sooner. 'There should have been an Amber Alert for Quebec and Ontario. We would have acted much faster! We don't care about the criteria, they should have issued it,' he said. SQ search missing girl Quebec provincial police officers seen during a search for a missing three-year-old girl, who was found in Ontario on June 19, 2025. (CTV News) There have been several comments on social media about his and his mother's involvement in the case, he said, with some calling him a hero, while others argue he didn't act quickly enough. He emphasizes, however, that the important thing for him and his mother is that the child was found safe and sound. Quebec provincial police have previously said the case didn't warrant an Amber Alert since it does not meet the necessary criteria of suspected abduction. An Amber Alert is only issued when all three of the following criteria are met: The police have reason to believe that the missing child (someone under 18 years of age) has been abducted; The police have reason to believe that the physical safety or the life of the child is in serious danger; The police have information that may help locate the child, the suspect and/or the suspect's vehicle. Capt. Benoit Richard of the Sûreté du Québec (SQ) said in an interview Thursday that after reviewing every aspect of the child's disappearance, an Amber Alert was not the right call. 'The criteria was not met,' he said, adding that there was a lot of information already being shared in the news media, which ultimately led police to the girl in Ontario. Police believe child was alone the entire time According the investigation, investigators believe the young child was dropped off on the side of the road and left there, leaving police — and the public — wondering how she managed to survive with no food or water. 'For somebody that's been missing like that, a young child, a three-year-old, it's my first time, and I've been on the force for 32 years,' Richard said. Benoit Richard Captain Benoit Richard of the Surete du Quebec speaks to media after a three-year-old girl was found alive, in St. Albert, Ont., Wednesday, June 18, 2025. (Christopher Katsarov/The Canadian Press) When the officer rescued her on Highway 417, he handed her pieces of mango and some Gatorade he had packed for himself to snack on during the search as it entered its fourth day Wednesday. 'She's still in the hospital. She's with her family. She's doing well, considering that she's been three days outside. She's dehydrated, but she's doing fine,' Richard said about the girl. The investigation is ongoing and police could recommend the Crown lay additional charges against the mother, but for now, police are still just 'ecstatic' and relieved that the toddler was found safe and sound after everything she went through. Highway 417 Highway 417 in Ontario, where a three-year-old girl who went missing last Sunday was found on Wednesday afternoon. (Source: Noovo Info) After she was found, search crews were clapping and giving each other high-fives, as passersby honked their horns on the side of the road to salute the police's work. The case 'had everybody in Quebec rooting for us, and everybody's happy, and everybody thinks that we made something good happen,' Richard added. Comments made by the mother the day she reported her daughter missing had raised heightened concerns about the girl's wellbeing. A video published on the mother's TikTok account on Sunday shows her holding her daughter in her arms, visibly angry. 'You try that again and this is going to get ugly,' Todd says in the video as her daughter looks into the camera. The caption on the video says, 'Have you come up against a mother with nothing to lose????' It's not clear who her remarks were directed at. 'It's almost a miracle' girl was found A day after the toddler was rescued, many were still praising the work of police officers on both sides of the border, including Nancy Duncan, director of operations at the Missing Children's Network. 'The fact that we got this outcome after four days is — I want to almost say it's almost a miracle. We were ecstatic, and it's what we all hoped for,' she said in an interview Thursday. Nancy Duncan Nancy Duncan, director of operations at the Missing Children's Network. (CTV News) More than 150 police officers from the SQ and the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) were part of the search involving helicopters, drones and ground search crews across a vast area spanning two provinces. Duncan, who has been at the network for 20 years, said the police's efforts were nothing short of 'extraordinary.' 'It's hard. It's not something that everybody can do, and they have a certain sense of empathy in keeping the family as the priority, and the child, so it's quite nice to see,' she said in an interview. The girl's father, Matthew Bell, reacted on Instagram Wednesday night, thanking those who helped find his daughter. 'Thank you for everyone's help. [sic] Please allow me and my family to take this time with our girl,' he posted. While the young girl recovers from the ordeal, her mother remains behind bars after being charged with child abandonment. She is scheduled to return to court Friday to set a date for a bail hearing, likely next week. With files from CTV News' Rob Lurie and Noovo Info

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store