Substitute teacher facing drug trafficking charges

A substitute teacher is facing charges for allegedly trafficking drugs near a Vancouver elementary school.

According to Richmond RCMP, a man handed drugs to someone from his vehicle on November 7 outside Sir Guy Carleton Community Elementary School in Vancouver.

A plainclothes officer saw the transaction. The suspect was pulled over by police and arrested in a nearby parking lot. Police said they found marijuana when they conducted a search.

No information is known about the other person involved in the transaction, or whether that person was connected to the elementary school, said Cpl. Sherrdean Turley.

Eugenio Alfonso Bahamonde, a 41-year-old substitute teacher with the Surrey School Board, has been charged with trafficking and possession for the purpose of trafficking.

Surrey School Board spokesperson Doug Strachan said Bahamonde has been suspended in connection with the charges in accordance with the school act.

The school act allows the board to suspend an employee charged with an offence that renders the employee unsuitable to perform those duties.

Bahamonde is due to appear in court January 16.