A London man whose girlfriend was fatally shot in their driveway two years ago was facing drug charges when he was swept up in a gun and drug bust this month, court records show.
Ali Bhatti, 30, was among three men arrested on Nov. 8 after London police searched homes and vehicles across the city and seized five handguns, a silencer, seven extended magazines, hundreds of rounds of ammunition, $61,800 cash, drugs and other items, police said.
Bhatti is charged with 22 offences including drug possession for the purpose of trafficking, possession of a prohibited or restricted weapon, careless storage of a firearm and failing to comply with an undertaking.
Bhatti’s girlfriend Lynda Marques was fatally shot outside their northwest London home on Sept. 10, 2022.
Court records show Bhatti previously was arrested on June 13 and charged with two counts of drug possession. He was released on an undertaking – a document created by either a court or police that places the charged person under certain conditions – that prohibited him from possessing any weapons.
Bhatti, who already was under a lifetime weapons ban stemming from a 2017 drug trafficking conviction, remains behind bars awaiting a bail hearing after his most recent arrest. He returns to court Wednesday. His lawyer, Aaron Prevost, didn’t respond to a request for comment Monday.
Prevost successfully defended Bhatti earlier this year against gun charges laid four months after Marques was killed by two masked gunmen while parked outside the Wateroak Drive home where the couple lived with their young son.
Bhatti was arrested Jan. 6, 2022, after London police pulled over a vehicle and seized two loaded guns and ammunition. Investigators also searched Bhatti’s home and seized cocaine, fentanyl, prescription pills and cash, police said at the time.
The drug charges were withdrawn and Bhatti was acquitted of the gun offences during a trial readiness conference on April 11 after the Crown didn’t call any evidence.
A pre-trial conference for the two Toronto-area men charged with first-degree murder in Marques’s death is scheduled for Nov. 29.