Suspect in alleged chocolate drugging thefts to appear in Montreal courtroom

A suspect in a series of alleged chocolate-drugging robberies is set to appear in Montreal Thursday.

Police allege Hamid Chekakri would arrive at the home of senior citizens who were looking to sell their property and then express interest in buying it.

Concluding a transaction, he would allegedly offer the victim a box of chocolates and a bottle of wine and insisted they eat it as tradition.

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After ingesting the candy, the victims would fall asleep for several hours and realize after waking up they had been robbed.

Police allege Chekakri, 47, used chocolate laced with a psychotropic drug that slowed down the central nervous system.

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A warrant indicates Montreal police began investigating a series of home invasions last December.

Chekakri was arrested in Atlanta on March 31 by the U.S. Marshals Service and had been held in Georgia pending his extradition to Canada.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection said in a statement the Algerian national was detained after arriving on a flight from Costa Rica.

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Montreal police detectives escorted him back to Canada on Wednesday.

Police have said they’ve linked the same suspect to at least six alleged victims in different parts of Montreal and Ottawa as well as three failed attempts in Montreal and Sherbrooke, Que.