Ontario Provincial Police say 18 people have been charged in a cross-border investigation into illegal guns and drugs, including the deadly opioid fentanyl.
The investigation began by targeting multiple criminal groups trafficking firearms and drugs along the Highway 401 corridor between the Greater Toronto Area through to Montreal, and revealed drug trafficking to the U.S. as well, said OPP Deputy Commissioner Rick Barnum.
The 18-month investigation -- known as Project Silkstone -- involved OPP, the RCMP, Quebec provincial police, Montreal police, the Canada Border Services Agency and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency.
Hundreds of officers participated in the investigation, which culminated with 22 simultaneous raids across the province and parts of Quebec, police said.
Over the course of the probe, OPP say investigators seized 11,500 pills containing fentanyl, eight kilograms of cocaine and 7.5 kilograms of ecstasy, among other drugs and drug equipment.
Barnum said this was a significant haul of fentanyl, which was being produced in Montreal and moved into Ontario. He said this is further proof that fentanyl is not only being sold as an opioid, but also as a cutting agent -- mostly done for economic reasons.
"We have audio recordings of drug traffickers who callously admitted that the enormous profits that can be made from fentanyl far outweighs the potential overdose deaths that can come about as a result of them dealing these drugs," Barnum said at a news conference in Vaughan, Ont.
Fentanyl -- a drug prescribed for chronic pain management -- is roughly 100 times more potent than morphine and about 40 times stronger than heroin.
It produces a drug high but also depresses the body's rate of respiration, which can cause breathing to stop -- a dose of just two milligrams of pure fentanyl can be lethal.
A sampling of the police haul was on display from packages of fentanyl-laced pills to bricks of cocaine to bags of marijuana and guns.
Barnum said they also infiltrated several criminal organizations, including the arrest of a Hells Angels member, whose vest was also shown.
"By dismantling a criminal operation of this magnitude, we've literally prevented more than 11-thousand 'doses of death' of fentanyl and illegal guns from killing people in our communities," said Barnum said.
The probe also netted a Service Ontario employee, police said, who was allegedly helping a Toronto man forge documents that included passports, driver's licences and health cards.
Police also seized 23 firearms, including pistols and long guns, as well as Canadian and U.S. currency and $50,000 worth of casino chips as part of the investigation.
OPP said the 18 people arrested in the investigation have been charged with a total of 81 offences under the Criminal Code and the Controlled Drug and Substances Act.
