$8 million in guns, drugs recovered in police raids in Mississauga, Brampton and across the GTA
Published August 9, 2023 at 1:56 pm
Nearly two dozen people are facing more than 380 charges after a series of police raids in Mississauga, Brampton, Oakville, Pickering and elsewhere in the GTA and across Ontario–including two prisons–turned up some $8 million in guns, drugs and cash.
Investigators with the OPP who spearheaded a four-month probe dubbed Project Moffatt said today (Aug. 9) that they targeted “three distinct crime groups that were trafficking illicit drugs and illegal firearms in the GTA as well as in central and northeastern Ontario.”
In total, 23 people, including a federal parolee, are facing 387 charges as a result of the sweeping and ongoing investigation, which involved the OPP’s organized crime unit in addition to the OPP-led provincial weapons enforcement and joint forces guns and gangs enforcement teams.
Those charged include two people from Mississauga and individuals from Brampton, Oakville and Burlington in addition to other parts of the province.
On July 18 and 19, OPP officers executed 14 search warrants at locations in Mississauga, Brampton, Oakville, Pickering, Toronto, Vaughan, Barrie, North Bay and Englehart (northeastern Ontario, near the Quebec border).
In addition, search warrants were executed at both the Maplehurst Correctional Complex in Milton and the Collins Bay Federal Institution in Kingston, police say.
As a result, police recovered 29 guns (mostly handguns), more than 25 kilograms of cocaine and nearly $290,000 in Canadian cash in addition to:
- 12 kilograms of fentanyl
- five kilograms of crystal methamphetamine
- over 260,000 methamphetamine tablets
- $1,562 in US currency
- 10 vehicles
“Illicit drugs and illegal firearms traffickers jeopardize the safety of our communities,” OPP Deputy Commissioner Marty Kearns said in a news release, adding those who take part in such crimes “…directly profit from violence and human suffering and show a complete lack of regard for the laws put in place to protect all of us.”
Peel Regional Police, York Regional Police, Barrie Police and Ottawa Police were also involved in the massive investigation.
Anyone with information about the trafficking of illicit drugs is urged to call OPP at 1-888-310-1122, or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 1-800-222-8477.
