Two people facing drug trafficking and conspiracy charges after a series of police raids across New Brunswick in 2019 won’t stand trial until next year.
Sylvio Saulnier, 47, and Emma Gilker, 32, were jointly charged in February 2021, with possession of methamphetamine and cocaine for purpose of trafficking, as well as with conspiring with other people to commit an indictable offence. The offences are alleged to have happened between July 4, 2019, and Sept. 1, 2019.
Saulnier owned a duplex on Dominion Street in Moncton that was raided by RCMP on Aug. 28, 2019, as part of an alleged drug-trafficking operation. Police allege they found Saulnier in possession of methamphetamines and cocaine on the same day as the raid.
RCMP at the time said officers had executed five search warrants in various places in the province, and seized about 14.5 kilograms of what they believed to be methamphetamine and about 880 grams of what they believed to be “cocaine/crack cocaine.”
Saulnier and Gilker will be jointly tried.
On Tuesday, they appeared in Moncton’s Court of Queen’s Bench where Justice Christa Bourque set a 10-day trial by judge alone starting Feb. 27. The Crown is expected to call about 20 witnesses to testify.
Gilker missed a previous court appearance last month and was arrested. She appeared Tuesday in custody, and the judge revoked her bail.
Saulnier and his lawyer, Michel DesNeiges, appeared by phone.
The case has drawn attention because Saulnier’s parents, 78-year-old Bernard Saulnier and 74-year-old Rose-Marie Saulnier were found dead in their home on Amirault Street in Dieppe Sept. 7, 2019.
No one has been arrested or charged in connection with their deaths.
RCMP have not said whether their deaths are connected to Saulnier’s case.
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