15^th July 2021 – This morning at 11 A.M., Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) announced that it concluded the Project Southam, which ran for 15 months, in which they have arrested almost two dozen accused for over 135 criminal charges. The GTA-based crime investigation included illegal trafficking of high quantities of cocaine and other illicit drugs.

The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) Organized Crime Enforcement Bureau (OCEB) and Provincial Operations Intelligence Bureau (POIB), along with York Regional Police (YRP) and the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) began Project SOUTHAM in March of 2020 after investigators became aware of the importation of cocaine.

During the investigation, law-enforcement agencies were able to seize:

• 92 kilograms of cocaine;
• 1 kilogram of methamphetamine;
• 249 kilograms of illicit cannabis, 100’s of bags of illicit cannabis edibles & 56 grams hash;
• 3 kilograms of psilocybin;
• 21 litres of gamma-hydroxybutyrate (GHB);
• 255 grams of ketamine;
• 255 grams of MDMA;
• 980 oxycodone pills;
• 1 kilogram of a cutting agent;
• A 9mm handgun;
• 1 silver bar, approximate value of $2,600;
• $372,020 in Canadian currency;
• $7,620 in US currency;
• A cryptocurrency hardware wallet containing cryptocurrency; and
• 7 vehicles as offence-related property.

It is estimated that the value of the seized property could be $ 10 million.

The names of the arrested people are as below:

1. Hans Frank Lauro, 35, Mississauga
2. Nicole Stella, 33, Burlington
3. Brianna Leslie, 35, Burlington
4. Ashley Mendes, 36, Brantford
5. Maria Rizzuto Caterina, Mississauga
6. Slobodan Milinkovic, 44, Toronto
7. Guido Aguilar, 46, Toronto
8. Adrian Butler, 37, Innisfil
9. Geovanny Andres Gaviria Restrepo, 38, Toronto
10. Adam Luangphasi, 34, Woodbridge
11. Alexander Le, 28, Thornhill
12. Silvino Da Silva, 50, North Dumfries
13. Jefferson Javier Diaz Parra, 38, Maple
14. Aidan Tai Chow, 25, Scarborough
15. Charlie Walters, 34, Vaughan
16. Giedrius Kesminas, 44, Ancaster
17. Nathan Brown, 56, Milton
18. Basil Dixon, 64, Brampton
19. Owen Vogleson, 60, Scarborough
20. Ananthie Alex, 42, Mississauga
21. Tanya Truong Luang, 36, Woodbridge

Sukhjit Dhaliwal, 47, Brampton is still at large and an arrest warrant is issued