Court Papers Tie Toronto Police Misconduct to Olympic Snowboarder's Drug Ring
Newly released filings allege connections between crooked Toronto officers and the cross-border cocaine operation allegedly led by ex-athlete Ryan Wedding.
Court Papers Tie Toronto Police Misconduct to Olympic Snowboarder's Drug Ring
Recently unsealed court filings have shed light on alleged ties between dirty cops in Toronto and a suspected multinational narcotics ring commanded by former Olympian Ryan Wedding.
The paperwork — an information-to-obtain spanning hundreds of pages and submitted in January — outlines how detectives suspected Gurpeet Singh, locked up at Toronto South Detention Centre, of plotting to kill a corrections administrator. Singh is believed to have acted as a shipment coordinator for Wedding's alleged cocaine enterprise.
According to the filing, Singh's ex-girlfriend Nishwant Dosanjh, who worked as a corporal inside the same facility, snapped a photo of the administrator's vehicle registration. She allegedly handed the image to Singh, who passed it through his contacts. From there, veteran Toronto cop Timothy Barnhardt is accused of running an unlawful plate check to pull the target's home address, which then spread through an underworld network.
On June 20 of last year, three armed assailants wearing masks were intercepted outside the administrator's residence during a high-risk arrest carried out by York Regional Police. The intended victim had built a reputation for cracking down on smuggled goods, particularly narcotics, and had flagged Singh as one of three prisoners who bore him ill will.
The probe, dubbed Project South, has produced 28 arrests so far — among them seven serving Toronto officers and one ex-cop. Barnhardt was taken into custody in February and continues to be held.
Neither Singh nor Dosanjh faces charges over the murder plot. Singh is in custody fighting extradition south of the border on trafficking accusations. Dosanjh's attorney insists she is blameless and has voluntarily handed over her seized mobile device to detectives.
Justice Laura Bird of the Superior Court, who is reviewing a sweeping gag order on the bulk of the filing, told the courtroom the claims against the accused officers are "horrendous." She added that citizens would have every right to be furious should even a fraction of the accusations prove accurate. The Star and fellow news organizations are challenging the secrecy order, arguing the material serves the public interest.
All accusations remain unproven in court.
Source: Toronto Star
Source: Google News CA — Crime (EN)