Sarnia woman faces charges in $16 million transnational drug bust: RCMP

Ontario RCMP have seized and destroyed cannabis grown at three large-scale illegal grow sites. (Source: RCMP)

A multi-year RCMP investigation into an alleged illegal cannabis operation has resulted in charges for six people, including one person from Sarnia.

The group reportedly ran three large-scale illegal cannabis grow operations valued at over $16 million.

Each of the operations had full time live-in workers, none of whom had legal status to work and grow cannabis in Canada.

The product was distributed to the United States and Hong Kong, with reported plans to expand to Europe.

The RCMP’s Greater Toronto Area Trans-National Serious & Organized Crime Section (GTA-TSOC) initially began investigating the network in Summer 2022 after referred by OPP. RCMP say that through the course of the investigation, around 17,000 plants were seized and destroyed.

Police say that the criminal network was also linked to two other cannabis production sites in Ontario which were dismantled by OPP and Toronto Police Service.

It is alleged that millions of dollars were laundered through the Canadian banking system through a complex identity fraud scheme, wherein the network fraudulently applied for Health Canada authorizations to produce medical cannabis on behalf of people that were not aware of the application. Those authorizations were then used to expand the cannabis production.

Five people from Toronto face charges associated with the operation; Fang Han (age 30), Xu Han (age 26), Shan “Sam” Gao (age 34), Feng Gao (age 42) and Shao Bo “Barry” Xie (age 45).

A 61-year-old Zdena “Denise” Mesko from Sarnia faces the following charges:

• Identity Theft, contrary to Section 402.1 of the Criminal Code;
• Use forged document, contrary to Section 368 of the Criminal Code;
• Possession of property/proceeds of crime, contrary to Section 354 of the Criminal Code;
• Conspiracy to impersonate for advantage, contrary to Section 403 and Section 465 of the Criminal Code; and
• Conspiracy to use forged document, contrary to Section 368 and Section 465 of the Criminal Code

The accused are scheduled to appear in court on May 7, at the Ontario Court of Justice in Toronto.