Major drug bust ‘takes out’ northern gang

Police from across Ontario are lauding a major drug bust that they say eliminates an organized crime group with ties to First Nation communities in northern Ontario.
Police seized an estimated $1.13 million worth of OxyContin, cocaine and cash during nine simultaneous raids across the province, including Thunder Bay.
As part of the bust 95 charges were laid against 11 people.
Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) chief superintendent Mike Armstrong said the arrests have broken up a drug trafficking ring that saw criminal organizations in southern Ontario running drugs to Thunder Bay and then into First Nations communities around northwestern Ontario.
“Thunder Bay is a central location,” Armstrong said during a press conference in Thunder Bay on July 25. “Everything goes through Thunder Bay to be distributed north.”
The arrests and confiscation of drugs come after a six-month investigation led by the OPP and involving Nishnawbe-Aski Police Services (NAPS), Anishinabek Police Services (APS), Thunder Bay Police Service and the RCMP.
In a unique twist, Armstrong said a prisoner at the Thunder Bay jail was running the criminal organization responsible for the drug trafficking across Ontario. A guard at the prison was arrested and charged as part of the investigation.
NAPS Chief Claude Chum, who joined Armstrong at the press conference, said the extent of the criminal networks bringing drugs into remote First Nation communities shows just how widespread and damaging the drug trade can be.
“The impact of criminal organizations on people who live in the communities of Nishnawbe Aski Nation (NAN) cannot be overstated,” Chum said. “Criminal enterprises are preying on First Nations people. I can assure you this is only the tip of the iceberg.”
Chum said NAPS has identified at least eight different criminal organizations, including a number of First Nations gangs, with ties to drug trafficking in NAN communities.
While NAPS and the OPP continue to make regular drug busts across northern Ontario, Armstrong said the seizure of over $1 million worth of drugs marks a blow to the black market supply of oxycontin, four months after Ontario put a ban on production of the prescription painkiller.
Armstrong said that police do not believe that criminal organizations are making oxycontin. Rather, the drugs are coming from “residual supplies” left on the market, Armstrong said.
“What is happening is that criminal organizations in the south are realizing how lucrative it is to sell these drugs in the north,” Armstrong said.
During the raids, police also seized a small amount of OxyNeo. Purdue Pharma, the maker of oxycontin and the new OxyNeo, promoted the new version of the drug as being tamper-resistant and therefore harder to sell on the black market.
Armstrong did say that since the ban on producing oxycontin in Ontario was put in place, police have seen less of the drug on the streets of southern Ontario.
A number of NAN communities have told Wawatay News that they notice no difference in supply of the drug in their communities since Ontario banned production of oxy. Chum confirmed that NAPS is still seeing oxycontin in communities, but said that prices have been rising for months. He said he has heard of pills being sold for up to $1000, which in his view means supplies of the drug are running low.
But regardless of whether oxycontin remains available in northern communities, Chum emphasized that everyone needs to work together to deal with the root causes of why the demand for drugs is so high in First Nations.
“As supplies of oxy start to dry up, people will be looking at other drugs now,” Chum said. “This is a policing problem, but it’s also a social problem that has to be addressed.”
APS sergeant Derek Johnson said it is not only NAN communities feeling the effects of prescription drug addictions. Anishinabek Nation communities are also dealing with high rates
of drug use and criminal organizations operating in the communities.
Johnson said it is imperative for police from across Ontario to continue working together to combat drug trafficking, and for community members to help police wherever possible.
“It’s an issue spread across Ontario, and criminals are not bound by geographic areas,” Johnson said. “We have to change the way we do business. It’s not just a policing issue, it’s a community issue.”
People charged in the drug bust are: Rashad Waquad, 71, of Mississauga; Zahed Khan, 20, of Toronto; Jabir Khan, 39, of Thunder Bay; Brandie Mosher, 35, of Toronto; Justin Cain, 25, of Toronto; Jolene Shimkoff, 33, of Thunder Bay; Preston Thompson, 23, of Thunder Bay; Neil Thompson, 30, of Thunder Bay; Justin Morrison, 28, of Weagamow First Nation; Dan Schiebler, 32, of Thunder Bay; and Candice Storozuk, 29, of Thunder Bay.