A Chatham man faces a slew of drug and weapons charges following the biggest drug seizure in Chatham-Kent history Wednesday night.
Chatham-Kent police raided an apartment in Chatham, seizing a $2.6 million worth of a litany of drugs, including cocaine, methamphetamine, heroin, marijuana, hydromorphone, GHB, ecstasy, morphine and fentanyl.
Also seized in the raid were an electronic digital scale, packaging materials, $52,000 in cash, and 9mm handgun and ammunition.
Jonathan Toornstra, 35, has been charged with nine counts of possession for the purpose of trafficking, four counts of possession of a firearm contrary to a prohibition order, unauthorized possession of a weapon, unsafe storage, possession of a prohibited weapon knowing its possession is unauthorized, possession of a prohibited or restricted firearm with ammunition, and tampering with a serial number.
Chatham-Kent Police Chief Gary Conn thanked the efforts of the officers involved in the raid.
““Firstly, I wish to commend all of our officers who worked on this project. This was both a lengthy and tedious investigation requiring the use of many resources,” he said in a media release. “I have been saying for some time now that a lot of our property crime, especially break and enters, are tied back to drugs, as there is a direct correlation between these offences.”
Conn said the successful raid underscores the service’s commitment combat illegal drug sales.
“Our Service is committed to mitigating and fighting against the sale and consumption of illicit drugs within our community. The execution of this search warrant and eventual seizure of these controlled substances with a street value of $2,669,290 is proof of that commitment,” he said. “This bust is the largest in Chatham-Kent history, which has resulted in an arrest and 18 drug and weapon related offences.”
The chief added this arrest and drug seizure will put a dent in the illegal drug trade in C-K.
“Habitually, it is just a few drug traffickers who are the main source of bringing drugs into our community. Thankfully today, one of those few has been arrested, and more importantly all of these drugs, including a handgun, have been removed from our streets,” he said. “That being said, our efforts will continue to combat these types of offences.”
