The Ontario Provincial Police in conjunction with York Regional Police, Peel Regional Police, Barrie Police Services, and Ottawa Police Services seized an estimated $8 million worth of illicit drugs and illegal firearms.
Known as Project MOFFATT, the four-month multi-jurisdictional investigation began in April and resulted in 23 accused facing 387 charges. One of the criminal networks involved was based out of York Region.
“It’s very significant because you look at just the results of this investigation and what we were able to take off the streets… this could have ended up in our neighbourhoods,” York Regional Police Deputy Chief Alvaro Almeida told NewmarketToday at a news conference held today at police headquarters in Aurora.
“If they’re making arrangements for sale of illicit material in places like York Region, you know it can appear on our streets at any given time. This is all deadly material, it could kill thousands of lives.”
Seized items included 29 firearms, 12 kilograms of suspected fentanyl, 25.25 kilograms of cocaine, five kilograms of crystal methamphetamine, over 260,000 methamphetamine tablets, $289,297 CAD, $1,562 US, and 10 vehicles.
“It’s a regular occurrence for us to seize a firearm and it’s an alarming trend,” Almeida said. “It appears the border has become porous in terms of guns flowing back and forth because of the profitability of trafficking firearms into Ontario.”
Twelve kilograms of fentanyl is equivalent to more than 120,000 street level doses, the police said.
“The popularity of opioids like fentanyl have really become the scourge of our communities, simply because they’re lethal and provide the user with euphoric effects immediately,” he said. “That’s why we see an increase in overdoses and put out notices when there’s bad fentanyl on the streets. Despite our best efforts, we still face this everyday.”
Almeida said the best way the community can help with the increasing issue of illicit drugs and firearms on the streets of York Region is to educate themselves on the dangers and pay attention to what’s going on in their communities.
“Notice different behaviours and collection points of where people are gathering, where they may be using drugs,” he said. “We’re asking people to report that to provide us with that information so we can investigate and determine what’s going on.”
The charges stem from the OPP executing 14 search warrants on July 18 and 19 at locations in Toronto, Vaughan, Barrie, Brampton, Mississauga, Oakville, North Bay, Engelhart, and Pickering.
“Through our investigation, we discovered not one, but three criminal networks responsible for selling vast quantities of illicit drugs,” said Lee Fulford, OPP Det. Insp. “One was based out of northeast Ontario, one was based out of Peel Region, and one was based out of York Region. These criminal networks had ties to street gangs.”
Search warrants were also executed at Maplehurst Correctional Complex and Collins Bay Federal Institution to gather evidence against three accused who were facilitating the trafficking of firearms while behind bars, police said.
“They were also conspiring with others to procure firearms from the United States,” said Fulford. “A disturbing trend we’re seeing across Ontario is how quickly firearms can be purchased in the United States, smuggled into Canada, and used to commit criminal offences.”
While the OPP couldn’t comment on the situation, it was noted that during the final enforcement stage in Innisfil, there was an interaction with police that resulted in the Special Investigations Unit evoking their mandate.
The Project MOFFATT investigation is ongoing, the police are asking anyone with information about trafficking of illicit drugs to call OPP at 1-888-310-1122 or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 1-800-222-8477 or ontariocrimestoppers.ca.
