High-risk stop leads seizure of firearm, 3 arrests on Highway 417: OPP

Three people are facing charges after a high-risk safety stop that happened Saturday on Highway 417, the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) says.

Police say the stop was made after they received information alleging a vehicle was believed to have a loaded firearm inside, and noting that it was on Highway 17 heading eastbound from Pembroke.

The OPP in Renfrew closed the eastbound lanes of Highway 417 West of Campbell Drive after locating the vehicle. That was when they stopped the vehicle and seized “a loaded firearm, drugs and drug trafficking paraphernalia,” the OPP said in a news release on Sunday.

The three occupants — a  23-year-old and a 27-year-old of Ottawa, and a 23-year-old of Kanata – have been charged with multiple offences, including unauthorized possession of firearm, possession of a schedule I substance for the purpose of trafficking- cocaine and possession of proceeds of property obtained by crime under $5000.

All three suspects “were held for bail.”