Four people facing dozens of charges in massive dark-web drug bust
Posted Jun 10, 2025 10:55:46 AM.
Last Updated Jun 10, 2025 01:12:23 PM.
A first-of-its-kind unit used by Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) is being touted as the reason $2.5 million worth of illegal drugs were seized.
Police say they have recovered a large quantity of fentanyl, hydromorphone, methamphetamine, ketamine and prescription drugs in Project Bionic.
To do this, the force is crediting its Covert Internet Intelligence Unit, a first-ever for provincial police. It is an intelligence-led unit that aims to dismantle operations using the dark web marketplace to ship drugs.
According to police, the dark web is a “hidden portion” of the internet that cannot be found with traditional search engines.
Four Ottawa individuals are facing a total of 85 charges:
- Amr Hammami 26, is facing 54 offences
- Hulya Colak, 24, is facing 29 offences
- Khashayar Nazemi, 26, one offence
- Cole Dale Shouldice, 31, one offence
Some of the locations these drugs were being shipped to include Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Nunavut, Quebec and Prince Edward Island.
In March 2025, officers arrested two individuals at a Canada Post location in Ottawa as part of Project Bionic. There, police seized 86 packages of various drugs that were prepared to be shipped across Canada.
“These arrests show that law enforcement can track and stop even the most complex online trafficking operations,” Thomas Carrique, OPP Commissioner said. “This investigation also plainly demonstrates the connections between drug trafficking and other crimes, such auto theft and illegal firearms.”
Project Bionic was a five-month investigation, where OPP executed four search warrants; one vehicle and three homes in Gloucester.
Police seized several items including:
- A handgun, an extended magazine and ammunition
- Approximately $95,000 in Canadian currency
- Electronic devices
- A stolen 2018 Ferrari 488 Spider convertible valued at more than $400,000
- Fraudulent licence plates
- Reprogrammable key fobs
- A diagnostic and programmer tool
Following this, police then executed another warrant where they found 11 stolen vehicles with a total combined value of $730,000.
“We remain committed to cutting off supply chains and taking down criminal networks-because every gram of fentanyl we seize is a life potentially saved,” officials said.
