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It started with a blizzard.
A snowplow operator came across a grey Honda CRV parked on Ridge Road in St. John’s. The driver was slumped over the steering wheel with the engine still running.
By the time police arrived 10 minutes later, Martin Marks was emerging from a zombified state to realize he was in a world of trouble. A urine sample later showed cocaine, methamphetamine, fentanyl, hydromorphone and oxycodone in his system.
A search of his vehicle turned up a BB gun tucked under the driver’s seat, along with nearly 100 grams of cocaine, 44 grams of crystal meth, 33 hydromorphone pills and 124 oxycodone pills.
“A mobile pharmacy,” provincial court Judge Paul Noble remarked as he heard the facts read aloud in his courtroom on Thursday.
“You haven’t heard anything yet,” prosecutor Trevor Bridger replied.
The traffic stop was just the beginning of a Royal Newfoundland Constabulary operation to surveil Marks and his girlfriend, Emma Murphy, from February to September of 2024.
Police watched the couple on 47 different occasions as they made 84 interactions that were believed to be drug deals. Most instances were quick hand-to-hand transactions, according to an agreed statement of facts read into the record in Marks’s case on Thursday.
Police say drugs containing fentanyl were being manufactured in this trailer in St. John’s. (Malone Mullin/CBC)
The officers soon discovered the couple wasn’t just using their house in St. John’s for their operation, but also a camper in Cochrane Pond — a campground that sits on Crown land about 25 kilometres from the centre of St. John’s.
An undercover officer — who goes by the pseudonym UC Vic — made two buys in the summer of 2024. On one occasion, he bought 8.7 grams of cocaine with a purity of 90 per cent. The second time, it was 16 grams of cocaine that tested at 95 per cent pure.
On Sept. 22, 2024, police believed they had probable grounds to make an arrest. They secured warrants to search the couple’s home, as well as the camper at Cochrane Pond.
They found a whopping 521 grams of fentanyl, along with 846 grams of fentanyl mixtures — including carfentanil, acetylfentanyl, methylfentanyl and fluorofentanyl.
It was the largest fentanyl bust in the province’s history.
“It sounds like an episode of Breaking Bad,” Noble said in response to the facts.
Marks and Murphy were released as charges were still pending. The facts in the case against Marks show police watched as the pair continued to sell drugs.
They were surveilled again between July 9 to July 17, 2025, again making a series of quick hand-to-hand transactions.
When their home was raided again, police found another 33.5 grams of fentanyl mixtures along with 110 grams of cocaine and 98 grams of methamphetamine.
Marks pleads guilty
The two were charged with a long list of drug and weapons offences, along with a third person who police believe acted as a courier for the couple.
Marks entered guilty pleas to 48 charges on Thursday. Murphy has yet to go to trial and is next due in court on Oct. 29 for a status update.
Marks was being held at the West Coast Correctional Centre in Stephenville until he was moved to Her Majesty’s Penitentiary in St. John’s last week. The move caused some confusion on Thursday, as staff at the prison were unaware Marks was supposed to be in court.
After a brief delay, he appeared by video.
Marks will have a sentencing hearing on Oct. 16, where lawyers for the Crown and defence will make submissions on how long Marks should serve behind bars.
Bridger and defence lawyer Stephen Orr told the court they’re not far apart on their suggestions.
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