Elder Joyce Tabobondung is the former chief of Wasauksing First Nation and wants to drive out drug dealers from her community and territory. Photo: Kenneth Jackson/APTN.
It’s just before midnight when a red Dodge Caravan appears to roll through a stop sign.
And on most quiet nights like this one on Sept. 7 in Shawanaga First Nation, about 260 km north of Toronto, it probably goes unnoticed.
But tonight isn’t one of those nights.
That’s because Const. Meggie Peddie is on patrol.
And she makes the van stop.
There are two men inside. Peddie, who is with the Anishinabek Police Services, recognizes the passenger.
It’s 23-year-old Terrence Smith of Toronto.
Smith has been on police radar for a couple months now as a potential big-city drug dealer in the territory peddling illicit drugs, including in the small First Nations Peddie patrols.
But Peddie doesn’t just recognize Smith. She knows there’s a warrant for his arrest after he recently skipped a court date on charges of obstructing the provincial police out of nearby Parry Sound detachment in June by allegedly giving a false identity, possessing illegal weapons, including brass knuckles, and driving with a suspended license.
Inside the van, Peddie finds suspected cocaine, several cell phones, a prohibited knife and $1,500 in cash.
Smith and the driver, Gianni Caschera, 55, of Parry Sound, are both charged with drug trafficking, as well as weapon and proceeds of crime offences.
Within hours of his arrest, the Crown attorney and defence counsel quickly work out a deal to send Smith back to Toronto to live with his mom, who will be his surety.
The judge accepts it and orders Smith to be in his mom’s apartment between the hours of 11 p.m. to 6 a.m.
He’s in custody for less than a day.
However, for the local First Nations, it’s at least one less alleged drug dealer in the territory.
That includes Wasauksing First Nation next to Parry Sound.
Smith was living there when APTN showed up in the community this past summer to meet with people fed up with the drug dealers and the toxic drug crisis that has claimed hundreds of lives throughout the territory in the last few years.
They invited APTN into their circle and shared their stories of struggle but also hope.
It wasn’t long before we learned that Smith was in the community.
We go to the property where he’s living and right to the door of the trailer we think he’s in.
It’s all part of the season premiere of APTN Investigates: “The Great Change.”
Watch it below.
