Several charges have been laid against an Oshawa man following a traffic stop that resulted in the largest valued seizure of fentanyl by the Sarnia Police Service (SPS).
Sarnia police held a media conference at its headquarters on Wednesday to announce the significant seizure of fentanyl, worth approximately $121,265.
Det. Sgt. Mike Howell of the Vice Unit said a vehicle without a front licence plate was seen by a member of the COPPS Branch, in the area of Queen Street and Wellington Street on Tuesday at around 2:30 p.m. The vehicle eventually stopped for officers in the area of George Street and Christina Street.
The driver allegedly tried to mislead police about his identity and resisted arrest, which led to him being tasered.
During a search, officers seized 422.06 grams of street-ready fentanyl and 6.3 grams of pure uncut fentanyl.
Suvaughn Sheldon Brown, 29, was charged with possession of a Schedule I Substance for the purpose of trafficking, public mischief, mischief, obstructing a peace officer, resisting a peace officer, assaulting a peace officer, and two counts of failing to comply with a release order.
Brown remains in police custody pending a bail hearing. Charges against the accused have not been proven in court.
When speaking to the growing drug problem, Howell said the "drug game has changed in Sarnia" in recent years from prescription opiates to powdered fentanyl.
"We were seeing hydromorphone, morphine, dilaudid, oxycodone," he said. "Now as powdered fentanyl has been introduced, because it is more potent, much stronger, more readily available … it's coming in mass quantities and it's relatively the same price, people go for the higher potency of street fentanyl."
Fentanyl is 50 to 100 times more potent than morphine. Howell said the dangerous drug is largely being brought into the city by outside crime groups and is then added to other agents and "cooked up" using household appliances such as blenders, microwaves, and ovens.
The added concern is that these outside groups are also bringing in firearms.
"It's a sign of the times. We're no longer this small City of Sarnia where we're immune to everything," said Howell.
The Vice Unit consists of Howell and four detective constables. It handles the major drug investigations in the city but Howell said they do draw on support from other SPS units.
"Our resources, as far as our drug unit, have not really changed over time. I would like additional [resources] as we go forward, perhaps an expansion of our unit, perhaps another officer or two to address what we're seeing because it is the main driver of all of our crime that we're having."
Meanwhile, when speaking about Tuesday's arrest, Sarnia's police chief alluded to the fact that traffic stops are one of the most dangerous acts carried out by police.
"In this particular circumstance, the officers were looking at a Highway Traffic Act offense which led to this kind of drug seizure. It's really an unknown outcome so officers need to approach each of those interactions with a heightened sense of caution because they just never know what the outcome is going to be," said Police Chief Derek Davis. "This represents one of the examples of the different types of risks that police officers face in today's environment."