Officers testify drugs, several women found in homes in Innisfil sex trafficking trial

South Simcoe Police officers took the stand today in the sex trafficking trial of Jashyna Singh, Oneil Hopkinson, Tyrone Dias, and Joseph Carvalho.

Warning: This article contains details that may be disturbing and triggering to readers.

Police officers took the witness stand Friday in the sex trafficking trial of Jashyna Singh, Oneil Hopkinson, Tyrone Dias, and Joseph Carvalho.

The officers described their involvement in the months-long 2023 human and drug trafficking investigation that included arrests of several people Innisfil in Nov. 2023, at a home along Yonge Street.

Police testified women were found at another home about a five-minute drive away in Alcona. One woman, met by police at the home, appeared to have scarring or bruising on her hand in body-worn camera video played for the jury.

• Sex-trafficking trial begs for group accused of exploiting women in Innisfil

The Crown alleged the four accused exploited women at homes in Innisfil. South Simcoe Police said the sites served as sex trafficking houses filled with drugs and vulnerable women.

Hopkinson, Dias, Singh, and Carvalho were arrested as part of Project Chameleon following a five-month long investigation that involved women being removed from the Yonge Street home. Police arrested others in the days and weeks that followed.

Three men accused of trafficking and drug charges have either resolved their charges or await trial.

The court has heard from one complainant who said she and other women were under the control of the accused. Hopkinson, 40, is charged with sexually assaulting one of the women; whose identities remain protected by a publication ban.

A South Simcoe Police officer testified seizing evidence from the Yonge Street home that included five cell phones and drugs like fentanyl, cocaine, and Lorazepam.

The Crown alleges the women were supplied drugs and their pimps exploited them for financial gain, placing ads for clients to visit them at the homes, while others kept close watch using cameras the Crown says were set up by Carvalho to track their movements.

One officer testified finding $3600 on Royden Reis of Barrie, whose drug possession and trafficking charges were withdrawn by the Crown after he entered into a peace bond last year.

38-year-old Edgar Martinez of Innisfil pleaded guilty last month to a global charge of sex trafficking sexually assaulting one woman.

The trial is scheduled for another six weeks.