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OAKVILLE -- A 9-year-old boy was asleep in a hotel, allegedly with a bag of stolen narcotics under his bed, when Halton police arrested his father yesterday morning, one of two men charged in a five-year string of pharmacy break-ins in the GTA and across southwestern Ontario.
Halton police Sgt. Peter Payne alleged officers even found some of the packaged drugs, which include OxyContin, demerol, morphine and powdered methadone, on one of the child's toys.
"The drugs were stacked on top of his firetruck," Payne said, calling the finding "alarming."
The boy's 40-year-old father and another man, 39, are expected to appear in Milton court today, charged in 23 pharmacy break-ins over the past five years.
OVERNIGHT ROBBERIES
The two recent robberies were overnight yesterday -- one at 3:30 a.m. in Toronto, near Bathurst St. and Wilson Ave., and the other between 8 p.m. and 6 a.m. in Hamilton.
The "extremely dangerous and highly addictive narcotics" stolen in the overnight robberies were seized by police yesterday at the hotel and another Oakville residence, Payne said.
The seized drugs have a street value of more than $100,000. A half bottle of powdered methadone was worth $10,000 alone. Payne said the value of the drugs stolen during the five-year crime spree of pharmacies in Halton, Peel, Toronto, Barrie, Hamilton, Waterloo and Guelph is estimated at more than $500,000.
Investigators are looking into whether the two accused are responsible for other pharmacy break-ins in the GTA, Payne said.
The break-ins saw two suspects wearing balaclavas smash the front doors, then attack the safes or ransack the pharmacy drawers, he said.
"The speed was very rapid," Payne said.
A drug like OxyContin, a pain reliever similar to morphine, is extremely popular on the street, he said.
37 CHARGES
"It is a drug that people who are addicted to heroin ... will use as a substitute," he said.
Stephen Bond and David Frampton each face 37 charges include break and enter, wearing disguises and possession of a stolen car.
The boy's 39-year-old mother, Erin Contini, who police said was also in the hotel during yesterday's police raid, also faces a charge of possession of stolen property.