B.C. man turns himself in on warrant for N.L. drug bust

Jacob Ryan Dean Doyle’s arrest was part of RCMP Project Barnacle, which saw the province’s largest-ever seizure of MDMA

A man who turned himself in to police in B.C. in connection with a drug bust in Newfoundland and Labrador is scheduled for a bail hearing Wednesday, Oct. 27.

Police escorted Jacob Ryan Dean Doyle, 24, from Golden, B.C., to St. John’s after he turned himself in on a Canada-wide warrant, and he made his first appearance in provincial court Monday, when his bail hearing was scheduled.

Doyle is charged with drug possession, trafficking and production in relation to an RCMP investigation called Project Barnacle, which has seen Mounties make multiple arrests and seize 11 pounds of ecstacy, along with guns, ammunition, jewelry, vehicles and about $350,000 cash between two provinces.

Police say the ecstacy seizure is one of the largest in Newfoundland and Labrador’s history.

Jordan Alexander Langdon, Katie Marie Tucker, Justin Shane Parsons and Barry Nolan are also scheduled to appear in court Wednesday in connection with the drug bust. They were arrested in the St. John’s area in September and released to await their next court date.

The RCMP issued a media advisory in February saying it had worked with other law enforcement agencies to execute search warrants at three homes in this province — one in Torbay and two in St. John’s — and two homes in Ontario — one in Etobicoke and one in Mississauga.

Seized in the local raids were a stolen handgun, five long guns — including an unsecured, modified semiautomatic rifle next to a bed — and approximately 10,000 rounds of ammunition. Police also found approximately 12 pounds of MDMA (ecstasy), which they say is one of the largest amounts ever seized in Newfoundland and Labrador, and an estimated $250,000 in cash, believed to be the proceeds of crime.

Investigators also seized nine vehicles, prescription pills, cocaine, credit card readers, high-end jewelry, a money counter, financial documents and various electronic devices.

In Ontario, where two men and a woman were arrested earlier in the year, police seized about $10,000 in cash as well as items they believe are indicative of money laundering.