Nine-millimetre Mack 11 machine pistol found with a cache of weapons during a drug search

A nine-millimetre Mack 11 machine pistol found with a cache of weapons during a drug search was an “unusual” find, said Constable Amy Phillipo of the London Police Service. London city police went looking for drugs today and found a stockpile of weapons, including a prohibited semi-automatic pistol that can easily be converted into an automatic gun. But knives and guns that can be legally purchased in Canada are frequently found during drug investigations, she said, adding some are registered and some are not. The semi-automatic Mack 11, which holds 13 rounds of ammunition, is a prohibited weapon in Canada, said a member of the drug and gun squad, adding it can be converted into an automatic weapon with simple modifications. “It has no military use,” he said. “It is not used by the Canadian forces.” Phillipo said the gun was seized along with drugs, seven knives, a homemade tazer and pepper spray after police executed a search warrant at a Dundas Street residence about 9:30 a.m. today. A suspect in a drug investigation was spotted and arrested at Dundas and Burwell streets before police searched the address listed on the warrant, said Phillipo. After the search, police charged Anthony Gratkowski, 23, of London with 11 weapons and firearms offences, possession of cocaine for the purpose of trafficking, possession of marihuana for the purpose of trafficking and possession of the proceeds of crime. During the search, police also seized ammunition, a digital scale, 110 grams of marihuana bud, 2.5 kilograms of marihuana shake and a small quantity of cocaine as well as the weapons. Police displayed the seizure for the media this afternoon and the items included a bayonet with a grip handle and wrist strap, a machete with a long blade, a knife with a split blade and a dagger that tapers to a needle point.

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First-degree murder charges have been laid against Denis Jerome Labossiere and two other men in the murders of his parents and brother

First-degree murder charges have been laid against Denis Jerome Labossiere and two other men in the murders of his parents and brother in November 2005. RCMP said the 37-year-old Labossiere, Jeremie Gerard Toupin, 22, and Michel Marc Hince, 21, hatched and carried out a plan to kill the trio in their St. Leon-area farmhouse on a winter night. Sources allege Labossiere came up with the plan and recruited the men so he could collect on an insurance policy and estate. Fernand Labossiere, 78, his 74-year-old wife Rita and their son Remi, 44, were shot to death before their farmhouse was burned down in an attempt to cover up the crime. A relative said the arrests are "a long time overdue" and bring relief to the family, which has been living in fear. "It's sad that it was possibly one of our family members that went to this extreme," the relative said. "It's unbelievable. How can this be?" In previous interviews, family members said they were afraid of Jerome, 37, and long suspected he may have had a hand in the deaths of his parents and brother. The relative said additional arrests are anticipated and the family is hoping this will bring an end to the mystery -- and fear -- surrounding the triple murder. The mystery deepened last month when Joel Labossiere, 34 -- a grandson of Fernand and Rita -- and his 33-year-old wife Magdalena, who was pregnant, were found shot to death in their St. Vital home. No one has been arrested in the double slaying, but city police are probing whether it has anything to do with a family court dispute. At issue is the estate of Remi, who took over the family farm. Remi's seven-year-old will left his estate to his nieces and nephews. After the triple murder, Jerome produced a new will that left the estate to his teenage son. Relatives claim the second will was a forgery. Joel had a protection order against his uncle Jerome and claimed in court documents Jerome was trying to get him to give up his stake in the $1.3-million estate. "He said if I didn't sign over my share, I would get this, like, he made this gesture of a gun," Joel said at a protection order hearing in December, according to a transcript.
Jerome denied the claims. Members of the RCMP's emergency response team arrested Jerome during a dramatic takedown on Riverton Avenue in Elmwood on Thursday night.
Witnesses said several unmarked police vehicles boxed in a pickup truck just west of Henderson Highway, and officers then smashed the truck's windows and tossed a smoke bomb inside the cab.Witnesses said the heavily-armed tactical unit pulled Labossiere and another man from the truck at gunpoint. RCMP spokeswoman Sgt. Line Karpish said police arrested Hince, a Winnipeg resident, in rural Manitoba on Thursday but would not say where. Toupin was arrested in Lower Nicola, B.C., where he resides, last Wednesday. He is originally from St. Leon, and will soon be escorted back to Winnipeg. All three are charged with three counts of first-degree murder and three counts of conspiracy to commit murder. Hince and Toupin are friends of Jerome's, a relative said. The relative said Toupin's younger brother, Andre, was arrested with Jerome in February 2006 during a sweep of Hells Angels members and associates.
Jerome was convicted later that year and sentenced to six years in prison for selling cocaine for the biker gang. He claims he is no longer an associate of the Hells Angels. Before the arrest, he was on day parole and was eligible for full parole later this month.

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