OPP traffic stop in small Ontario town leads to drug trafficking charges
Posted Mar 4, 2025 01:31:03 PM.
Last Updated Mar 4, 2025 01:31:11 PM.
Police were suspicious of a vehicle driving down a local road in a small Ontario town west of the nation’s capital, so they pulled over the driver.
Officers stopped the vehicle in Madoc on Monday that was going down St. Lawrence Street East after noticing damage on the car and an obscured licence plate.
Provincial police searched the vehicle and found cannabis, suspected methamphetamine and suspected psilocybin. Officers also took crack pipes, a large knife, shotgun shells and other items typically associated with drug trafficking.
As a result, two people are facing a slew of charges related to the drugs and driving the damaged vehicle.
Michael Andrew, 52, with no fixed address, has been charged with:
- Possession of a schedule 1 substance for the purpose of trafficking
- Possession of a schedule 3 substance for the purpose of trafficking
- Possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose
- Possession of proceeds of crime under $5,000
- Driving with cannabis readily available
- Possession of over 30-grams of dried cannabis in a public place
- Operate a vehicle without insurance
- Failing to surrender a permit for a vehicle
- Failing to surrender a driver’s licence
- Driving with a dirty licence plate
- Fail to comply with a probation order
Patrick French, 32, of Central Frontenac Township, is facing charges of:
- Possession of a schedule 1 substance for the purpose of trafficking
- Possession of a schedule 3 substance for the purpose of trafficking
- Possession of a firearm or ammunition contrary to a prohibition order
Both are being held while they wait for bail hearings before the Court of Justice in Belleville on March 4.
