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Police seized cocaine, hashish and money in a series of drug raids in the greater Toronto area. Five people were taken into custody, all from ages 18 to 30. All five were charged with possession for the purposes of trafficking cocaine. The police also provided pictures of some of the seized material.
One raid targeted a Legion Rd. N apartment in Toronto where three arrests for drug charges were made. Two others were arrested at another raid in the greater area. All arrests involved cocaine, but only the three persons arrested in the first raid were charged with hashish possession.
In contrast, the pair in the second house were both charged with possession of proceeds of a crime, a charge which usually indicates possession of funds associated with the sale of drugs in these situations, but only one person was charged with possession of funds in the first house.
When multiple people are arrested at the same location, it’s possible that some of the arrested parties were not involved in the activity at all. The charges in this incident were layered in such a way that indicates that the arresting officers may not have found enough evidence to lay additional charges on at least two of the suspects. Police will often detain everyone present in a drug raid whether they had direct contact with the substances or not. By lumping several charges together, a detainee can appear to be in a worse position than they actually are, giving investigators leverage to interrogate and reach plea bargains on charges that they may not have sufficient evidence for. A lawyer can ensure that the police do not subject detainees to unreasonable interrogation and that subjects are treated fairly while in custody.
Source: Mississauga, “Five charged in series of raids across GTA,” Louie Rosella, 26 April 2013
