Highway 69 traffic stop nets $31K in suspected drugs and cash

An Ontario Provincial Police officer conducts a traffic stop as part of Reduce Impaired Driving Everywhere (R.I.D.E.) operations in northern Ontario in this undated photo. (File photo/Eric Taschner/CTV News Northern Ontario)

Ontario Provincial Police have arrested and charged two individuals with drug-related offences after a traffic stop in Carling Township.

On May 11 at about 2 a.m., officers conducting a Reduce Impaired Driving Everywhere (R.I.D.E) check on Highway 69 observed evidence of drug trafficking while speaking with the occupants of a vehicle, according to an OPP social media post.

A subsequent search of the vehicle uncovered over $16,000 in cash and quantities of suspected cocaine, crack cocaine, and Oxycodone.

Authorities said they estimated the street value of the drugs seized as $15,000

As a result, a 31-year-old from Toronto and a 24-year-old from Niagara Falls are each charged with two counts of drug trafficking and a single count of possession of property obtained by crime. The Niagara Falls resident was additionally charged with a third count of drug trafficking.

Both accused were held for bail and are next scheduled to appear in court in Parry Sound on May 29.