HEALER OR DEALER? Toronto man convicted in huge gun, drug bust

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Daniel Dubajic describes himself as a bio-energy healer.

The justice system begs to differ and views the 47-year-old Toronto man as a drug and arms dealer.

Dubajic was found guilty on Friday of all 78 counts against him, charges that stemmed from the largest single-day drug and weapons busts in Toronto Police history.

It was two years ago that police raided a modest apartment in Etobicoke and found $18 million in drugs and 65 guns.

The only occupant of the apartment — Dubajic — was arrested at the scene on Nov. 17, 2020.

At the time, Dubajic’s landlord said he’d lived in the building for 22 years and described him as a good tenant who worked as a painter and was involved in naturopathy.

And Dubajic had no previous history of drug or gun charges.

Throughout the trial last week, Dubajic maintained he had nothing to do with the contraband found in his apartment, stating he was as surprised as everyone else when police found the huge cache of drugs and guns.

He blamed a mysterious character known as R.J. who rented a room from him — the room where 100 kg of cocaine, including some wrapped bricks stamped with the word “lucky,” 60 kg of crystal meth and 65 guns (including eight long guns) were found.

That room had a sign on the door reading “Vandelay Industries,” which Seinfeld fans will recognize as the fictitious company George Costanza invented to use as a job reference.

Dubajic depicted himself throughout his trial as a modest person engaged in healing and energy work. He also said he fostered animals; certainly, his Facebook feed is full of dog photos and stories.

And he claimed he had no money, so the charges against him didn’t make sense.

Dubajic’s lawyer said his client had rented out a second bedroom in the apartment to someone he didn’t know very well, a friend of a friend.

The accused admitted having a little cocaine for his own use and to sell to a small circle of people, suggesting that was the sum of his involvement with anything drug-related.

But handwritten notes presented as evidence showed he was keeping typical drug-deal debt lists. As for his financial situation, Crown attorney Erin Pancer suggested in court that Dubajic had no ready money because he had been buying Bitcoin.

Still, there are unanswered questions. Fingerprints on the guns and the drug packaging could not be linked to Dubajic, and at the time of the bust, police saw other people coming and going from the apartment.

In the end, Judge Andras Schreck rejected Dubajic’s testimony, which he called “too fantastic” to be believed, and found the accused guilty on all counts.

Dubajic will be sentenced in January.

lbraun@postmedia.com