Police have arrested nine people and laid 44 charges as part of a drug trafficking investigation that began last year in Barrie.
The Ontario Provincial Police-led Provincial Joint Forces Guns and Gangs Enforcement Team launched Project Cranium in the fall of 2023 after learning of two people trafficking illicit drugs in Barrie.
“Further investigation revealed that a sophisticated criminal network was operating out of the Greater Toronto Area, Simcoe County and Durham Region,” police said in a news release.
“Illicit drugs were being purchased from a source supplier and trafficked to a mid-level purchaser before being sold to local traffickers throughout southern Ontario.”
On Jan. 21, 16 search warrants were executed in Toronto — 11 at residences, four on vehicles and one at a storage locker. Seized items include the following:
- 173 kilograms of suspected crystal methamphetamine;
- 56 kilograms of suspected cocaine;
- 500 grams of suspected fentanyl;
- two prohibited handguns, one of which was loaded;
- ammunition;
- more than $620,000 in Canadian currency;
- evidence of drug production, including two cocaine presses; and,
- four vehicles.
The drugs seized have a potential street value of more than $13 million, police said.
The accused are from Toronto, Scarborough and Ajax.
A video about Project Cranium can be found here.
The investigation is ongoing, and anyone with information is asked to call OPP at 1-888-310-1122. Information can be provided anonymously to Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or ontariocrimestoppers.ca.
