Two charged after police seize suspected cocaine, mushrooms at RIDE check

Ontario Provincial Police officers conduct checks for impaired driving as part of the police service's reduce impaired driving everywhere (RIDE) program on November 17, 2022. (File photo/CTV News)

Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) say two individuals are facing drug-related charges after officers seized a significant quantity of suspected cocaine and psilocybin (mushrooms) during a routine traffic stop last week.

OPP’s Manitoulin detachment was conducting reduce impaired driving everywhere (RIDE) program checks on Highway 6 in Espanola shortly after 4 a.m. on Feb. 25, when a vehicle was stopped for inspection.

Officers confirmed that the driver, a 42-year-old man from Little Current, was wanted on an outstanding warrant and arrested him. A subsequent investigation also led to the arrest of the passenger, a 41-year-old woman from Greater Sudbury.

A search of the vehicle and its occupants resulted in the seizure of a significant amount of suspected cocaine and an amount of suspected psilocybin.

Police said they estimated street value of the cocaine seized as $12,000.

As a result, both of the vehicle’s occupants were charged with drug trafficking and drug possession. The driver faces additional charges for impaired driving and driving while under a suspension.

The accused driver was held pending a bail court appearance in Sudbury last week and the accused passenger is scheduled to appear in court in Espanola on April 7.