Cops describe buying 60 hand grenades

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 face of the veteran undercover officer, identified as Officer No. 2, 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.

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,” said Officer No. 2, who bought 60 grenades.

Officers No. 2 and No. 1, whose face was also protected, identified Spaulding as the man who sold them grenades and a half kilogram of cocaine in the store parking lot.

Court heard Spaulding transported the grenades in the type of hard plastic case routinely used by photographers to carry cameras and lenses.

The undercover officers arrived separately 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.”