Featured
A loaded handgun plus 2.5-kilos of cocaine, equals six years in prison
Toronto man came to Yellowknife to sell cocaine with an accomplice out of a downtown Airbnb, NWT Supreme Court heard
Abel Mehare had “no legitimate purpose” to be in Yellowknife when he was caught with 2.5 kilograms of cocaine — with a street value of $300,000 — and a loaded handgun in March 2024, court heard Friday.
And one year later, as the Toronto man was waiting in the North Slave Correctional Complex to answer to a list of serious drugs and weapons charges at the North Slave Correctional Complex, Mehare tried to hire another inmate to send someone to the hospital.
NWT Supreme Court Chief Justice Shannon Smallwood said: “Mr. Mehare passed a note to another inmate … in which he asked the inmate to send another inmate to the ER and that he would pay the inmate to do so and help him get a firearm once they were released from custody.”
Earlier in the week, the Crown and Mehare’s counsel came to an agreement, where guilty pleas would be entered for two of the 11 counts on the docket.
Smallwood sentenced Mehare to three years for possession for the purpose of trafficking and three years to run consecutively for illegal possession of a handgun and ammunition.
“Yellowknife has seen an alarming increase in incidents of firearms-related crime and shootings over the last few years,” said Smallwood, quoting from an earlier NWT Supreme Court ruling.
“This is obviously a serious concern for members of the public who want to live in their community safely and peacefully.”
In March 2024, RCMP announced that two Toronto men were in custody, three illegal handguns were off the streets, and cocaine with a street value of $300,000 was seized following a “dramatic takedown in Yellowknife this week.”
It was the result of a roughly two-month drug trafficking investigation by the G-Division’s Federal Arctic Unit, which determined the targets were not only trafficking drugs, but also were in possession of firearms.
The Emergency Response Team executed a search warrant on March 26th at a downtown Airbnb and 24-year-old Mehare ran outside, where he slipped on ice and was apprehended with the assistance of a police dog.
Police found inside: 2,477 grams of suspected cocaine; 514 grams of a cocaine cutting agent; a loaded .357 revolver; a loaded 9mm Glock; over $2,000; and other drug trafficking paraphernalia.
The estimated street value of the cocaine when mixed and packaged for sale is approximately $300,000, stated the RCMP.
At the time of this incident, Mehare was on bail and subject of arrest warrants for firearms offences in Toronto.
Prior to the execution of the warrant, a younger male was observed departing the Airbnb in a taxi cab. He was followed to a local hotel, and RCMP members attempted to arrest him. He ran off and put up “significant resistance” before being taken into custody, police said at the time.
A loaded 9mm Beretta handgun was located in the snow in the immediate vicinity of where he was arrested.
In connection with that incident, 18-year-old Romero Senior of Toronto received 13 charges and will stand trial this September.
Smallwood said at Mehare’s sentencing hearing that the amount of cocaine seized clearly falls into trafficking and cocaine at a wholesale level.
She continued: “The impact of trafficking and cocaine has a significant impact on the community … the focus on sentencing … is on imposing sentences that will deter others who might be tempted to traffic and cocaine and to send a message that the courts treat these offenses seriously.
“Trafficking in drugs has been, and continues to be, lucrative for those who traffic cocaine in Yellowknife and other communities in the Northwest Territories — there are those who come to the Northwest Territories to make money, preying on the vulnerabilities of others.”
The court considered Mehare’s lack of a prior record and guilty pleas, granting him credit for 1,014 days in pretrial custody, or roughly 33 months.
That leaves 1,177 days, or 39 months left to be served, with a recommendation it be done so in an Ontario prison.
Additionally, a 10-year firearms prohibition and a DNA collection order were imposed.
At the time of this large bust, RCMP Cpl. Matt Halstead stated:
(CKLB files)
“The presence of these armed individuals in Yellowknife is extremely concerning, particularly given the recent uptick in gun violence related to the drug trade. These subjects specifically utilized Airbnb’s and taxi-cabs as a safe-haven to conduct their illicit business. We urge Airbnb owners and taxicab drivers to report any suspicious clients or activities to the police.”
Anyone who has information about drug trafficking in the City of Yellowknife or communities of Ndilǫ and Dettah is asked to contact the Yellowknife RCMP at 867-669-1111 or Crimestoppers at p3tips.com.
