MONTREAL -- Montreal police (SPVM) put 14 people in cuffs and seized more than a dozen firearms after a series of raids in the past eight days.

The SPVM said in a news release that 15 firearms were seized in five separate police operations starting Nov. 14.

"The fight against gun violence in Montreal is not only the business of our specialized firearms teams, but a collective effort of all of our police forces," said SPVM spokesperson David Shane, in the release.

Police say that on Nov. 14 police responded after shots were fired on Gouin Blvd. West in the Ahuntsic-Cartierville borough. A 17- and 18-year-old suspect were arrested at their residences and two handguns and ammunition were seized.

Three days later, the organized crime squad searched three locations in the Rosemont-La Petite-Patrie and Ville-Marie boroughs and Vaudreuil-Dorion and seized drugs, a pistol and ammunition. Six people aged 24 to 41 were arrested, police say.

The same day, a 36-year-old suspect was arrested after the multisector firearms team conducted seven searches in Lachine, Saint-Laurent, and Saint-Philippe which resulted in seven long guns, a pistol, ammunition, a homemade silence and other firearms parts being seized.

Around midnight on Nov. 18, officers arrested three suspects - 16, 21, and 27 years old - in the Riviere-des-Prairies-Pointe-aux-Trembles borough after a home invasion and two firearms were found in the suspects' vehicle, police say.

Around three hours later, police say officers noted two suspicious people - 27 and 28 years old - with loaded pistols and a balaclava in Old Montreal. They were arrested.

The police said assistance from the public helped in the arrests and seizures.