Photo: Facebook

Kyle Gonek

A West Kelowna man facing drugs and guns charges failed to show up in court this week, and a warrant has been issued for his arrest.

Kyle Gonek, who gained notoriety in recent years for posting photos and videos of himself appearing to travel in excess of 280 km/h on public roads, was charged in November of this year with three charges of possession for the purpose of trafficking and four firearms-related charges. The charges stem from a June 2020 raid on his and another West Kelowna home, where police found fentanyl, crack cocaine and methamphetamine. Officers had been surveilling Gonek for weeks prior to the raid.

Gonek is also facing a separate charge of mischief, stemming from a May 1, 2021 incident in West Kelowna. He was set to appear in Kelowna court on that charge Monday, but after he failed to show up, a warrant was issued for his arrest.

Gonek was also scheduled to make his first appearance in Kelowna court on the guns and drugs charges Tuesday, but that date was adjourned. A future court date on that matter has been set for Jan. 4, when the Crown will apply for a separate warrant if Gonek doesn't turn up before then.

A civil forfeiture suit filed against Gonek the B.C. government in November 2020 provides some details about the RCMP's investigation into the West Kelowna man.

Officers first began surveilling Gonek in May 2020, and police say they observed him make 25 “short-duration meetings consistent with drug trafficking.”

On June 16, 2020, police executed a search warrant on a home on Sundance Drive that Gonek had been frequenting and found 128.7 grams of fentanyl, 118.5 grams of methamphetamine and 102.7 grams of crack cocaine, along with $7,590 in cash. A second raid of Gonek's property produced what police described as an “unknown amount of methamphetamine,” along with three shotguns a taser and “drug packaging material.”

Gonek's travel trailer, which police said he'd been using as a “stash house,” and his 2018 Cadillac CTS were seized by police, and in February of this year, the BC Supreme Court ruled the money from the sale of the vehicles could be seized by the government, as the vehicles were determined to be both proceeds and instruments of unlawful activity.