‘Helping destroy lives’: 15-year sentence sought for roommate in one of Canada’s largest fentanyl busts

A 15-year sentence is being sought for a London man who says he didn’t know his roommate was trafficking $3.2 million in fentanyl. Nick Paparella reports.

In January 2023, officers laid out what they seized from a small apartment on Cheapside Street in London, Ont.

Dubbed Project Oasis, besides guns and cocaine, 15 kilograms of fentanyl with a street value of $3.2 million was seized.

It was one of the largest hauls of its kind on record in Canada seized from a small bedroom.

In June of last year, the man who rented the bedroom and the mastermind behind the operation, Taymoor Pasha, 26, was sentenced to 16-and-a-half years in prison after being found guilty on drug trafficking charges.

Months later his roommate, Justin Taillefer, 31, who claimed that he was unaware of the drug stash in the apartment, was also found guilty of similar drug trafficking charges.

He was the one who rented out the bedroom to Pasha.

In a joint submission during a sentencing hearing at London’s courthouse, the prosecution and the defence requested that Taillefer serve 15 years in prison.

Federal Crown Vincenzo Mazza told the court, “Mr. Taillefer was a custodian, he was providing the apartment.”

When he addressed the court defence lawyer Jim Dean said, “It was not his operation, but he nonetheless was willfully blind to Mr. Pasha’s activities.”

Before wrapping up, the Crown emphasized the seriousness of the case.

“If you deal fentanyl or help someone deal fentanyl, you’re helping destroy lives,” he said.

At the end of the hearing Taillefer addressed the court and told the judge, “I’d like to apologize because I believe I could have done more with my life and the choices I’ve made.”

Justice Patricia Moore is expected to hand down her sentence on the case on April 7, 2026.