Police have arrested and charged an employee of the Thunder Bay District Jail following an ongoing investigation into the importing of contraband into the facility.
Members of the Thunder Bay Police Service’s Intelligence Unit began an investigation in April of 2020 that focused on a suspect who was possibly using their position as a prison guard to bring contraband into the district jail for profit.
As a result of their ongoing investigation, police formed grounds to make an arrest and took the accused in to custody just before 7 a.m. on Wednesday, June 24.
Following the arrest officers obtained a search warrant for the suspect’s vehicle, home and workplace locker.
As a result of those searches, police located and seized a variety of items including: A quantity of suspected MDMA (Ecstasy), a quantity of suspected cocaine, tobacco, cannabis, paraphernalia consistent with drug trafficking, and Canadian currency totaling more than $20,000.
The search of the locker led police to find contents packaged in a way that is consistent with making them concealable during body searches.
Andy Jason SAINDON, 38, of Thunder Bay, is charged with:
• Breach of Trust
• Possession of Property Obtained by Crime over $5,000
• Trafficking in Tobacco Products
• Possession of Cannabis for the Purpose of Selling
• Possession of Cocaine for the Purpose of Trafficking
• Possession of MDMA for the Purpose of Trafficking
He appeared in bail court on Thursday, June 25 and was released with conditions and a future appearance date of Sept. 4, 2020.