Waterloo Regional Police say they found a large quantity of fentanyl on Thursday after pulling over a suspected drunk driver in Kitchener.

Police say a possible impaired driver was reported near Queens Boulevard and Fischer Hallman Road.

READ MORE: Police find meth, stun gun after pulling over stolen car in Kitchener

After officers found the suspect vehicle, they placed the driver under arrest and charged him with operation while impaired by drug.

The man in the passenger’s seat was also arrested on outstanding charges.

Police searched the vehicle and discovered 19.2 grams of suspected fentanyl and $1,370 in cash.

Both men were also charged with possession for the purpose of trafficking.

When she died of an overdose inside the bathroom stall at the small Norwich restaurant where she worked, Carolyn de Wit’s death laid bare the reality that the powerful painkiller fentanyl had arrived in Southwestern Ontario.

It also signalled the opening of a new front in the justice system’s fight against the opioid drug crisis sweeping the region and Ontario. William Knapp, de Wit’s cousin’s husband, was charged with manslaughter in the January 2016 death of the 32-year-old mother of three.

Knapp had sold de Wit a single 50-microgram patch of the powerful painkiller from his own prescription. By pleading guilty to criminal negligence causing death, a conviction that sent him to prison for two-and-a-half years, he admitted he knew how dangerous the drug could be.

Since Knapp’s case, there’s been a spike in manslaughter charges laid across Ontario against people whom police allege supplied the drugs to overdose victims. Ontario has joined other provinces and several U.S. states looking to the courts to punish drug dealers pushing the drug, which is 100 times more powerful than heroin.

The movement of those yardsticks in the face of the deadly opioid crisis is no coincidence.

“The evolution of the trend has a lot to do with the evolution of the crisis,” said OPP Supt. Bryan MacKillop, the director of the provincial police force’s organized crime enforcement bureau.

“As increased numbers of overdoses occur, you’re going to see increased enforcement, increased number of charges and increased targeting of the people who are trafficking these drugs.”

The target, he said, is “on the people who are trafficking, selling, importing and manufacturing these drugs that are killing people.”

In Ontario, since de Wit’s death in her Oxford County town, manslaughter charges related to overdoses have been laid in Norfolk, South Simcoe, Lambton, North Bay, Perth, Huron, Bruce, York Region and the Sudbury area. Most of those charges were laid this year.

“We’ve got a responsibility to hold criminal offenders accountable,” said Greater Sudbury police Chief Paul Pederson, the incoming president of the Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police.

“From a policing perspective, we’re really getting our heads around the fact that people who are manufacturing (the drugs), the people who are then dealing in these illegal and deadly substances, have to be held to the highest level of accountability possible.”

The reasons are as plain as the skyrocketing statistics. Opioid-related deaths have been increasing since 2003, but took a huge leap in 2015 and 2016. Public Health Ontario reports that 1,394 people died of opioid-related overdoses in 2018, up from 2017.

The OPP say there was a 35 per cent increase in overdose deaths in the first quarter of 2019 compared to the same period last year. They note in a recent report that other areas of Canada have seen even greater increases in the number of deaths.

The spike in charges relates to the OPP and other police forces taking a new investigative approach. MacKillop said the police have embedded the definition of overdose – cited in Canada’s Good Samaritan Drug Overdose Act – into their policies and are embarking on “comprehensive and consistent investigations of all overdoses across the board,” with a clear eye on targeting the traffickers.

Pederson said any charges are laid in consultation with local Crowns. What’s necessary is “a clear line” from purchase to the consumption of the drug and a cause of death that is directly related to the opioid.

Fentanyl can kill a first-time user with as little as two milligrams. It’s dangerous enough on its own, but more troubling is the ease with which it can be mixed with other street drugs. Some of it comes from prescription medication, but a powerful illegal fentanyl from overseas labs, with unregulated dosages, is being smuggled into the country.

Added to the crisis is the introduction of carfentinil, a fentanyl-related opioid that’s 10,000 times stronger than morphine.

“It really is a deadly game of Russian roulette” for street drug users, Pederson said.

MacKillop said the ultimate goal is to tear down distribution channels both nationally and internationally. But fentanyl trafficking has unique features and has changed the definition of the typical drug dealer.

Related

The opioid crisis includes “cyber-enabled criminals who are able to order synthetic opioids over the dark web and have it delivered right to them,” he said.

“It’s a new type of drug dealer, who doesn’t necessarily have to take advantage of or be part of the larger drug distribution network we’re seeing in organized crime.”

Enforcement is only one prong in the approach to help the addicted and punish the pushers.

Since the OPP adopted its new policy in September, there have been more investigations “because we are trying to attack this from both sides.

“The overarching goal, as we deal with these investigations consistently and thoroughly across the province, is that they fuel larger-scale investigations,” MacKillop said.

Opioids have created “a whole new world,” and manslaughter charges are a logical offshoot given the number of deaths, one Southwestern Ontario expert says.

“It’s a killer drug,” said Brian Farmer, a retired Crown attorney and law professor. “This is no different than walking down Dundas Street with a loaded handgun, just shooting it off. You’re going to kill somebody.”

What the courts will have to sort out, particularly during the sentencing in such cases, is making “a distinction between the big-time dealers and the petty-ante, the little ‘I’m-going-to share-with-you dealers,’” Farmer said.

But there’s concern that the legal moves aren’t necessarily getting to the heart of the problem.

London defence lawyer Andy Rady, president of the London Criminal Lawyers Association, said the risk of charges may be an effective deterrent for law-abiding people, “but a lot of people who are involved in criminal activity aren’t deterred by much.”

Rady agrees “the plague of fentanyl” and “the way people are dying all the time, including in and out of jail, it’s been seen as: Something serious has to be done about it.

“There’s never really been a drug before, in my experience, that has been this deadly and has caused this much of a problem,” he said.

Already, some trends emerging.

In the Knapp case, and in cases in Lambton and Brant, there have been guilty pleas to criminal negligence causing death, a charge with the same legal construct as manslaughter. While the latter sounds more serious, for a conviction both charges require proof there was no intent to kill. Both also carry maximum sentences of life in prison.

Rady said the Crown can get convictions to manslaughter by proving criminal negligence, but not necessarily the other way around. The decision to accept a guilty plea to criminal negligence might come down to “legal esoterics.”

“In a lot of people’s minds, manslaughter is worse, when it isn’t,” Rady said, adding they’re two of the most serious charges in criminal law.

“Arguably, you’d rather plead (guilty) to criminal negligence than to manslaughter, and from the Crown’s point of view, they’re still getting a conviction for something that will result in probably a hefty jail sentence.”

When Knapp was sentenced a year ago, Superior Court Justice Thomas Heeney warned not to use his decision of two-and-a-half years in prison – a joint sentencing submission by the Crown and the defence – as the precedent in other drug manslaughter cases, because de Wit’s death came at the beginning of the opioid crisis when communities were just learning about the danger.

Since then, there have been sentences as long as six years in prison. The sentences will likely get even longer as the crisis deepens.

“The (sentencing) tariff, as we’re learning more and more about how horrible fentanyl is, is going to go up,” Rady said.

The police will leave that to the courts. They remain single-focused.

“The message to all people who are trafficking in these drugs is: ‘You’re killing people and we will try everything within our power to hold you accountable for that,’” McKillop said.

jsims@postmedia.com

FENTANYL AND MANSLAUGHTER IN SOUTHWESTERN ONTARIO

April 2018 – Carolyn de Wit, 32, dies in a bathroom stall in the Norwich restaurant where she worked on Jan. 25, 2016, after her cousin’s husband, William Knapp, 37, sold her a single fentanyl patch. He was the first in Ontario to be charged with manslaughter at the start of the fentanyl crisis. In April, 2018, he pleaded guilty in Woodstock court to criminal negligence causing death and was sentenced to 2½ years in prison.

September 2018 – A judge sentences long-time drug dealer Andrew Earl Allison, 35, to 10 years in prison – one of the harshest penalties recorded for fentanyl-related deaths – for criminal negligence causing death and other drug charges. He’d been charged with manslaughter in the death of Anthony Micro, 46, in Brantford in September 2017. Allison had mixed up baggies of soft cocaine and fentanyl he had in his pockets when he sold drugs to Micro. Six years of the sentence was allotted to the criminal negligence conviction.

March 14 – Norfolk OPP charge Morgan Daniel Fick, 21, with manslaughter, possession of fentanyl and other drug-related charges in connection with the death of Ashley Gravelle, 35, of Port Dover, who died on March 2. On May 1, Carilyn Michelle Deming, 23, also was charged with manslaughter in connection with Gravelle’s death.

May 3 – Karen Edel-Savage, 59, pleads guilty to criminal negligence causing death in a Sarnia court after facing a manslaughter charge in the death of Daniel Lapointe on Aug. 9, 2017. She’d sold crack cocaine to Lapointe and his partner, calling the drugs “a real head-spinner.” Her sentencing hearing is slated for September.

May 27 – Terry Collins, 54, makes his first court appearance in Stratford on a manslaughter charge in connection with the Dec. 21, 2018 death of a 48-year-old Stratford man.

June 7 – Kayla Field, 27, of Central Huron and Brandon Weitzel, 28, of Goderich are charged with manslaughter in connection with the death of David Spies, 42, of Central Huron, who was found unresponsive at a home on Cut Line. More charges were laid June 14 against Stephen Feddes, 49, of Central Huron, who is facing accessory after the fact, and other charges. Field and Weitzel had additional criminal negligence causing death charges added.

Manslaughter charges have been laid in cases in Sudbury, Barrie and Collingwood.

About opioids

• Highly addictive painkillers, also called narcotics, made from opium poppies or synthesized in a lab
• There are many different kinds of prescription and illegal opioids with varying strengths, including morphine, heroin, hydromorphone, oxycodone and fentanyl.
• Prescription opioid pills, often prescribed as painkillers, can be abused by patients or diverted to the streets, where they may be smoked, crushed and snorted or injected by drug users.
• Opioids have been implicated in more than 11,500 deaths nationwide since 2016.

BALTIMORE, MD – A federal grand jury has indicted Deandre Laquan Jones, a/k/a “Cuz,” 26, of Towson, and Tyrell Daront Curry, a/k/a “Mike,” 28, of Baltimore, on the federal charges of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute controlled substances, distribution of controlled substances, possession with intent to distribute drugs near a school, maintaining a drug-involved premises, as well as related firearms charges.

The indictment was returned on June 25, 2019, and was unsealed at their initial appearances.

The indictment was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Robert K. Hur; Acting Special Agent in Charge Cardell T. Morant of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Baltimore; and Chief Melissa R. Hyatt of the Baltimore County Police Department.

Hur stated, “Guns and drugs take far too many lives in our communities. All too often, guns and drugs go hand in hand—and both are killers. We will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to identify and disrupt drug trafficking organizations, especially those who use guns and sell drugs near our schools. Federal, state, and local law enforcement are united in our commitment to get guns, drugs, and violent criminals off our streets and to reduce violent crime in our neighborhoods.”

According to the indictment, from December 2018 to February 2019, Jones and Curry distributed fentanyl, heroin, and cocaine. On February 22, 2019, Jones allegedly possessed fentanyl, heroin, and cocaine which he intended to distribute within 1,000 feet of a public elementary school. The indictment alleges that during the time of the conspiracy Jones used an apartment in Parkville to manufacture and distribute fentanyl, heroin, crack cocaine, and powder cocaine. The exact location of the apartment was not provided.  Finally, as alleged in the indictment, Jones illegally possessed firearms and ammunition in furtherance of drug trafficking.

If convicted, Jones faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years and a maximum sentence of life in prison for the conspiracy and for possession with intent to distribute fentanyl, heroin, and cocaine; a mandatory minimum of five years and up to 80 years in prison for possession with intent to distribute drugs within 1,000 feet of a school; a maximum of 20 years in prison for maintaining a drug-involved premises and for distribution of drugs; a maximum of 10 years in prison for being a felon in possession of firearms and ammunition; and a mandatory minimum of five years and a maximum sentence of life in prison for possession of firearms in furtherance of drug trafficking.

If convicted, Curry faces a mandatory minimum sentence of five years and a maximum sentence of 40 years in prison for the conspiracy, and a maximum of 20 years in prison for both possession with intent to distribute heroin, and for distribution of cocaine, heroin, and fentanyl.

At their initial appearance in U.S. District Court in Baltimore on Tuesday, U.S. Magistrate Judge Stephanie A. Gallagher ordered that Jones and Curry be detained pending a detention hearing scheduled for July 5, 2019 at 2:00 p.m, and July 8, 2019 at 2:30 p.m., respectively.

An indictment is not a finding of guilt. An individual charged by indictment is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty at some later criminal proceedings.

Hamilton police have arrested two people following an investigation on the East Mountain.

Shortly before 7 a.m. on Wednesday, police were called to a disturbance at a townhouse complex on St. Andrews Drive, near Quigley Road, after receiving information that a man possibly armed with a gun was inside the residence.

When officers arrived, the man tried to flee on foot but was tasered before being arrested.

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Police say they found him in possession of fentanyl and heroin.

During their investigation, police determined that drugs were allegedly being sold from two of the units in the townhouse complex.

They executed search warrants and seized a loaded handgun, a large quantity of drugs and over $8,000 in cash.

WATCH: (June 26, 2019) Police arrest suspect involved in Hamilton Pride altercation

Kimani Salim Clarke, 23, of Toronto and Crystal Murray, 38, of Hamilton are facing multiple drug and firearm-related charges, including unauthorized possession of a firearm and possession for the purpose of trafficking cocaine.

The area was closed off for hours on Wednesday during the police investigation.

PHOTOS: Look who’s been booked in the Butler County Jail

A grand jury may issue an indictment if it finds probable cause that a crime was committed and the accused person is responsible. An indictment is an accusation that must then be proven in court. The grand jury also may elect to issue no indictment.

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BUTLER COUNTY

Indictments returned during a recent session of the Butler County grand jury:

Frenchman Willoughby, 984 Doris Jane Ave., Fairfield; indicted on two counts of possession of cocaine, and one count each of illegal use or possession of drug paraphernalia, aggravated trafficking in drugs (direct) and aggravated possession of drugs (direct).

Justin M. Maddock, 8174 Talawanda Springs Road, College Corner; indicted on one count of aggravated possession of drugs.

Charles W. Kling, 46 S. Second St., Richmond, Ind.; indicted on two counts of forgery, and one count each of theft from a person in a protected class (direct) and forgery (direct).

Melissa K. Gabbard, 3105 Ogden Drive, Middletown; certified back to the lower court on one count each of illegal use or possession of drug paraphernalia, and driving under financial responsibility law suspension.

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Bobby Smith Jr., 3161 Radabaugh Road, Madison Twp.; certified back to the lower court on one count each of failure to comply with an order or signal of a police officer, obstructing official business, and operating a vehicle under the influence.

Eugene James, 1704 Meadow Ave., Middletown; indicted on one count each of possession of LSD and aggravated possession of drugs.

Brittany Christine Bulmer, 1108 Edison Ave., Hamilton; indicted on one count each of aggravated possession of drugs and petty theft.

William E. Jenkins, 2240 West Elkton Road, St. Clair Twp.; indicted on one count each of possession of a fentanyl-related compound and possession of heroin (direct).

Michael Shane Gabbard, 1613 N. Wichita Drive, New Miami; certified back to the lower court on one count of improper turn, and indicted on one count of improperly handling firearms in a motor vehicle.

Darik Richard Wallace, 217 Maxwell St., Franklin; indicted on one count of burglary.

Adam L. Spangler, 6370 Tylers Crossing, West Chester Twp.; certified back to the lower court on one count of domestic violence.

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Allen Rutkowski, 636 Heaton St., Hamilton; certified back to the lower court on one count each of petty theft and possessing drug abuse instruments (direct).

Tony L. Harrison, 1003 N. B St., Hamilton; indicted on one count of domestic violence.

Janelle M. Kravec, 56 Mostow Drive, St. Clair Twp.; indicted on one count of aggravated possession of drugs.

Robert Ryan Roll, 1501 Madison Road, Apt. 420, Cincinnati; indicted on one count of violating a protection order.

Amanda M. Hogan, 232 Timber Hill Drive, Hamilton; indicted on one count of aggravated possession of drugs.

Rickardo J. Harris, 902 Ludlow St., Hamilton; indicted on one count each of aggravated robbery, felonious assault, having weapons while under disability, grand theft of a motor vehicle (direct), and carrying concealed weapons (direct).

James Mills Jr., 1706 15th Ave., Middletown; indicted on one count each of illegal possession of a firearm in liquor permit premises, having weapons while under disability, and assault.

Nickolas Wayne Lawhorn, 24 Edgeton Court, Hamilton; indicted on one count of possession of a fentanyl-related compound.

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Derrick E. Whicker, 99 Riverside Drive, New Miami; indicted on one count of grand theft of a motor vehicle.

Randall Scott Couch, 519 Park Drive, Apt. J, Trenton; indicted on one count of identity fraud.

Destini Arielle Lesha Locke, 1567 Mandarin Drive, Forest Park; indicted on one count each of passing bad checks and theft by deception (direct).

Michael Jay Paynter, 557 Diamond Loop, Lemon Twp.; certified back to the lower court on one count each of resisting arrest, obstructing official business, and disorderly conduct.

Jeremy Jackson, 508 S. B St., Hamilton; indicted on one count of failure to provide notice of change of address or place of employment (direct).

Joshua Thomas Mullins, 113 Iglehart St., Middletown; indicted on one count of failure of duty to register (direct).

Kevin J. Conry, 8228 Ventle Drive, West Chester Twp.; indicted on one count each of rape (direct) and gross sexual imposition (direct).

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Lacey M. Scott, 636 Lafayette Ave., Apt. F, Middletown; indicted on four counts of nonsupport of dependents (direct).

Jacob W. Miller, 17728 444th Drive SE Gold Bar, Wash.; indicted on three counts of nonsupport of dependents (direct).

Brandon James Ward, 10115 Ronnie Road, Woodlawn; indicted on two counts of nonsupport of dependents (direct).

Timothy P. Gentile, 710 Poplar St., Oxford Twp.; indicted on three counts of nonsupport of dependents (direct).

Solomon E. Thornton, 2074 Rubicon Place, Forest Park; indicted on two counts of nonsupport of dependents (direct).

Angela J. Oglesby, 207 N. Sixth St., #B, Hamilton; indicted on two counts of nonsupport of dependents (direct).

David M. Murphy, 117 S. Breiel Blvd., Middletown; indicted on four counts of nonsupport of dependents (direct).

Charles Lander Jr., 6245 Carmin Ave., Trotwood; indicted on three counts of nonsupport of dependents (direct).

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WARREN COUNTY

The Warren County grand jury returned these indictments during a recent session:

PHOTOS: Look who’s been booked into the Warren County Jail

Arnold Lovell Satterwhite Jr., 1361 Kingsley Ave., Dayton; indicted on one count each of involuntary manslaughter, corrupting another with drugs, trafficking in a Fentanyl-related compound, trafficking in cocaine, and tampering with evidence.

Samantha Holly Sherbourne, 7060 Eastlawn Drive, Cincinnati; indicted on one count each of possession of a fentanyl-related compound, possessing drug abuse instruments, and illegal use or possession of drug paraphernalia.

Daniel Ray Stevens, 415 N. Mechanic St., Lebanon; indicted on one count of aggravated possession of drugs.

Misty J. Anders, 9282 McNoun Road, Winchester; indicted on one count of aggravated possession of drugs.

Rachel A. Burton, 4862 Classic Turn Lane, Mason; indicted on one count each of possession of cocaine, aggravated possession of drugs, and possession of drugs.

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Jade Edward Moore, 9380 Railroad St., Winchester; indicted on one count each of aggravated possession of drugs, possession of hashish, illegal use or possession of drug paraphernalia, and resisting arrest.

Nickie D. Smith, 1400 Forest Ave., Middletown; indicted on one count each of aggravated possession of drugs and possession of drugs.

Cory Michael Finley, 3513 Lefferson Road, Middletown; indicted on one count of receiving stolen property.

Bascum Lloyd Hall, 691 W. Locust St., Wilmington; indicted on one count of robbery.

Robert M. White, 6629 Strout Road, Morrow; indicted on one count each of grand theft, and criminal damaging or endangering.

Crystal Raines, 780 Claude Ave., South Lebanon; indicted on one count of aggravated possession of drugs.

Christopher Edward Debord, 741 Union Road, Franklin; indicted on one count of aggravated possession of drugs.

Phillip Brian Campos, 20 N. Horton St., Dayton; indicted on one count each of breaking and entering, possessing criminal tools, and theft.

Dalvir Singh, 1331 Trinity Place, Middletown; indicted on two counts of kidnapping, and one count of robbery.

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Kathleen Ann Yancey, 752 W. Turtlecreek Union, Lebanon; indicted on one count each of failure to comply with an order or signal of a police officer, and obstructing justice.

Justin Earl Lawson, 2383 Creedmore Court, Burlington, Ky.; indicted on one count each of identity fraud, aggravated possession of drugs, possessing drug abuse instruments, and obstructing official business.

Anthony Robert Bernius, 210 Oneida Drive, Loveland; indicted on three counts of aggravated possession of drugs, and one count each of carrying a concealed weapon, possession of L.S.D., possession of heroin, possession of a Fentanyl-related compound, possession of drugs, possessing drug abuse instruments, and illegal use or possession of drug paraphernalia.

Nicholas Coleman Phelps, 471 Mary Lane, South Lebanon; indicted on one count of domestic violence.

Glenn Edward Hayes Jr., 8305 Millwheel Drive, Centerville; indicted on one count each of trafficking in cocaine and possessing criminal tools.

Dakota Kalista, 2472 Brookview Drive, Middletown; indicted on five counts each of aggravated trafficking in drugs and aggravated possession of drugs; three counts each of trafficking in drugs and possession of drugs; two counts each of trafficking in hashish; possession of hashish; and selling, purchasing, distributing, or delivering dangerous drugs; one count each of trafficking in cocaine, possession of cocaine, trafficking in L.S.D., possession of L.S.D., trafficking in marijuana, possession of marijuana.

Isaiah Kenneth Stanford, 307 Kings Mill Road, Mason; indicted on two counts of theft.