UPDATED: Toronto Police Corruption Probe Links Officers to Fentanyl, Cocaine Trafficking and Murder Conspiracy

TORONTO — Seven Toronto police officers and a retired officer have been charged in a sprawling corruption and organized crime probe that police say links insiders to fentanyl and cocaine trafficking, extortion, multiple shootings — and an alleged conspiracy to commit murder.

York Regional Police Chief Jim MacSween said the seven-month investigation, dubbed Project South, found officers unlawfully accessed confidential information that was then funneled to criminals, who carried out shootings and other violent offences. The actions of officers, which in some cases endangered the lives of the public, is “reprehensible,” said MacSween.

Police said currently, they do not know if any court cases have been compromised. Deputy Chief Hogan said it is crucial to probe whether organized crime infiltration has spread across other police forces and Canadian institutions.

Asked whether the plot to kill a corrections officer in this corruption probe was related to broader networks of Ryan Wedding—whose network was involved in bribing Canadian officials, according to U.S. government filings—police said they could not respond.

The investigation began on June 20, 2025, when investigators allege a conspiracy unfolded to murder a member of corrections management working at an Ontario correctional institution.

“Over a 36-hour period, a number of suspects attended this member’s home in York Region, we allege, for the purpose of murdering him,” Deputy Chief Ryan Hogan said, showing surveillance video footage of masked, armed individuals at the scene. The video captured the moment three men, masked and armed with a loaded handgun, returned to the officer’s home and rammed a police cruiser stationed in the driveway. Three suspects, including two youths and one adult, Almar Heath, were taken into custody.

Deputy Chief Hogan named Const. Timothy Barnhardt as an officer who allegedly unlawfully accessed a police database and performed queries that produced confidential information about the intended victim. Police allege Barnhardt then released this information to Brian Da Costa, whom investigators identified as “a key figure in the criminal network operating within the Greater Toronto Area, with significant international ties.”

Da Costa is alleged to have directed a “sophisticated” drug-trafficking operation responsible for the exportation of cannabis and fentanyl, as well as cocaine importation and methamphetamine trafficking.

Police also uncovered a plan, led by Da Costa, in which “Toronto police officers intended to support the operation of illegal cannabis dispensaries by accepting bribes to obstruct any possible enforcement action to be taken at those locations,” York Regional Police alleged.

Four officers face bribery charges in connection to that operation.

Three other individuals — Median Jackson, Kaejean Doman, and Devonte Barker-Campbell — were given confidential information from “various Toronto police officers,” who were in some cases given bribes, for the purpose of crime. These individuals allegedly accessed the information provided by Barnhardt and were “recruiting” criminal actors to carry out harm.

York Regional Police subsequently identified a series of serious criminal acts that occurred after that information was disclosed — “almost in real time” — including seven shootings, extortion, and commercial robberies. In multiple cases, investigators determined the addresses returned by the unlawful queries were later the location of criminal incidents.

The confidential information was allegedly shared with Da Costa, Elwyn Satanowsky, and others who police believe are connected to various criminal networks.

When police arrested Da Costa on January 23, 2026, officers seized 169 pounds of cannabis and one pound of fentanyl, which investigators believe was destined for a European location.

Four of the eight officers — Const. Timothy Barnhardt, Sgt. Robert Black, Const. Saurabjit Bedi, and Sgt. Carl Grellette — were allegedly involved in an operation “orchestrated” by Da Costa. Police allege these officers in particular were involved with Da Costa in supporting illegal cannabis dispensaries by accepting bribes to provide protection from law enforcement investigation.

Other criminal actors outside the police service were also identified and arrested for the commercial trafficking of cocaine, methamphetamine, illicit cannabis, fentanyl, heroin and oxycodone, said Hogan. Another illegal firearm was removed from the streets from a repeat offender who was already out on bail for drug trafficking.

At the scene of a shooting in Vaughan in September, police arrested Kaejean Doman, who was allegedly in possession of a firearm police believe was imported illegally into Canada from the United States. Authorities confirmed the weapon has been linked to at least seven separate shootings in the Toronto area.

Deputy Chief Hogan said one of the shootings and one of the accused, Elwyn Satanowsky, are tied to the tow-truck industry. While violence among several cartels vying for control of the towing industry in Ontario is said to be behind much of the violence police are probing, Hogan added police believe some of the residential shootings they are investigating are not related to the tow truck wars.

In all, three officers and one retired officer have been charged with offences related to unlawful queries and the distribution of confidential, personal information. Three Toronto officers also face charges related to the trafficking of cocaine. One officer faces charges for the theft of personal property, which included drivers’ licenses, health cards, passports, and credit cards from a police facility.

The investigation involved York Regional Police, the Toronto Police Service, the Ontario Provincial Police, and the Correctional Services within Ontario’s Ministry of the Solicitor General.

OFFICERS CHARGED:

• Const. Timothy Barnhardt, 56 — 17 charges, including conspiracy to obstruct justice, conspiracy to commit public mischief, and numerous drug trafficking charges

• Sgt. Robert Black, 42 — four charges, including conspiracy to obstruct justice and possession for the purpose of trafficking (cocaine)

• Retired Const. John Madeley Sr., 55 — 11 charges, including breach of trust by public officer and possession of prohibited weapon

• Const. John Madeley Jr., 29 — two charges: breach of trust by public officer and unauthorized use of computer

• Sgt. Carl Grellette, 49 — four charges, including conspiracy to obstruct justice and breach of trust by public officer

• Const. Saurabjit Bedi, 38 — six charges, including conspiracy to obstruct justice and conspiracy to traffic in substance

• Const. Derek McCormick, 57 — six charges, including obstruction of justice and multiple counts of theft under $5,000

• Const. Elias Mouawad, 24 — two charges: breach of trust by public officer and unauthorized use of computer.

The investigation is ongoing.