Undercover cops bought 60 hand grenades in a Canadian Tire parking lot, trial hears

LONDON, Ont.—An OPP officer posing as a survivalist stockpiling weapons testified that he bought a suitcase full of hand grenades for $110,000 in a mall parking lot in Ancaster, a court has heard.The veteran undercover officer’s face was hidden from everyone but Justice David Harris as he described the deal in a Canadian Tire Parking lot in the town outside Hamilton on Dec. 17, 2020.He was identified only as Officer No. 2 as he described buying 60 hand grenades for $110,000.His testimony came in the trial by judge alone of Brandon Spaulding, of Brantford, who was charged with possession of explosives, weapons trafficking, possession of a firearm, possession of a prohibited device and trafficking cocaine.“I was acting basically as a survivalist,” Officer No. 2 said.A second OPP undercover officer, identified only as Officer No. 1, also testified from behind the large screen, so that her face was only visible to the judge.Both officers identified Spaulding as the man who sold them grenades and drugs in the store parking lot.Court heard the grenades were transported by Spaulding in the type of hard plastic case routinely used by photographers to carry cameras and lenses.He also sold them a half kilo of cocaine, they testified.The undercover officers arrived separately to the parking lot in a Mercedes sedan and a large truck.Officer No. 2 said he worried at first that they might have been victims of a rip-off, as he could see no container for the grenades when he looked inside Spaulding’s Ford Fusion vehicle.“I said, ‘Where are the grenades?’” Officer No. 2 said. “The driver nodded towards the back,” he continued. “He had indicated to me that the grenades were in the trunk.”The purchase of the grenades and cocaine was originally slated to take place in Brantford, but the location shifted to Ancaster after a series of text messages, Officer No. 1 said.Court heard that someone in a black SUV appeared to be doing surveillance on the undercover police officers as they completed the parking lot transaction.“I had concerns that whoever was operating that black SUV was watching us,” Officer No. 1 said “To me, it was suspicious… It was something that I saw that caused me some concern.”The black SUV left the parking lot at the same time as Spaulding’s Ford Fusion, court heard.Peter Edwards is a Toronto-based reporter primarily covering crime for the Star. Reach him via email: pedwards@thestar.ca