The defendant, Shamar Bowen Soares, was charged with six counts of Controlled Drugs and Substances Act offences following his arrest and a strip search that revealed crack cocaine, heroin, and fentanyl.
The primary defence was a Charter challenge to the lawfulness of the arrest and search.
The court found that the police had objectively reasonable grounds for arrest based on surveillance and informant tips, thus no Charter breach occurred.
On the merits, the court found the defendant not guilty of possession of crack cocaine for trafficking and all fentanyl-related charges, due to reasonable doubt regarding his knowledge of fentanyl in the mixture.
However, he was found guilty of possession of heroin for the purpose of trafficking and simple possession of crack cocaine.
