Police seize handgun, drugs worth $300K in traffic stop near Espanola, Ont.

A search of the black Suburban uncovered a loaded 9 mm Glock handgun, ammunition, more than $1,200 in cash, cannabis, and more than four kilos of suspected cocaine and 2,400 hydromorphone tablets with a street value of about $300,000. (OPP photo)

Ontario Provincial Police say three suspects from southern Ontario have been charged and drugs worth $300,000 have been seized following a traffic stop Sept. 16.

Around 2 a.m., police stopped a vehicle on Highway 17 in McKerrow, west of Sudbury, during a roadside enforcement initiative.

"A black Suburban entered the RIDE program," police said in a news release Friday.

"While speaking to the driver, police detected the smell of freshly burned cannabis that was emanating from inside the vehicle."

That led to a search of the vehicle, which uncovered a loaded 9 mm Glock handgun, ammunition, more than $1,200 in cash, cannabis, more than four kilos of suspected cocaine and 2,400 hydromorphone tablets with a street value of about $300,000.

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Charged are a 43-year-old suspect from Irondale, a 40-year-old from Mississauga and a 30-year-old from Brampton.

They face numerous charges, including weapons, drug trafficking and possession of property obtained by crime. The Irondale suspect is also charged with driving with cannabis readily available to the driver.

The three accused appeared before the Ontario Court of Justice Bail Court in Espanola and were remanded into custody.