Ontario Provincial Police briefs

Drug charges laid on the 401

Two women are facing drug trafficking charges after police conducted a traffic stop on a vehicle while on general patrol.

On Oct. 2 at approximately 9 p.m., the Oxford OPP were conducting a general patrol on the 401 in the Township of Blandford-Blenheim. An officer conducted a traffic stop on a vehicle after it was observed driving erratically.

Police searched the vehicle, which resulted in the seizure of approximately 500 grams of suspected cocaine with an estimated potential street value of approximately $50,000. A weigh scale, packaging and cellular phones were also confiscated.

A 52-year-old Sarnia woman has been charged with impaired driving by drug and possession of a Schedule I Substance for the purpose of trafficking. A 40-year-old woman, also from Sarnia, was charged with possession of a Schedule I Substance for the purpose of trafficking.

Both accused were released from custody and are scheduled to appear before the Ontario Court of Justice in Woodstock on Nov. 18.

Woodstock man charged after colliding with fire truck in Durham Region

Two Clarington firefighters were taken to hospital after a tractor-trailer slammed into a fire truck that was parked on Highway 401 Friday morning, responding to an earlier collision. The fire truck was blocking a live lane of traffic in the westbound lanes of Highway 401 near Newtonville Road when it was struck by a transport truck around 2:30 a.m. on Oct. 10, say Ontario Provincial Police. The two injured firefighters were inside the fire truck at the time of the crash. Their injuries are considered non-life-threatening, say police. The driver of the transport truck, a 42-year-old man from Woodstock, has been charged with careless driving.