TORONTO – Nearly 500 kilos of cocaine seized and nine people in custody after an investigation by Peel Police; 38 kilos of fentanyl and other drugs seizures and various charges filed by Ontario Police in two different inquiries: several anti-drug operations have been carried out in the last few hours in Ontario.
Let’s start with the first operation, result of a year-long investigation by Peel Regional Police into a group of drug traffickers who, according to agents, were using commercial trucks to traffic cocaine across the U.S. border into Canada. The investigation, called “Project Pelican”, led to what Peel Police Chief, Nishan Duraiappah, called “the largest drug seizure in the police service’s history”, as he said during a press conference, today.
The investigation was launched in June 2024 after police identified a group of individuals who were using commercial trucks to transport illegal drugs across the border. Further investigation identified members of the group, commercial trucking companies, and storage facilities involved in a well-organized criminal organization. And with the collaboration of the Criminal Intelligence Service of Ontario (CISO) and other national and international law enforcement agencies, including the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), and the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA), Peel Police were able to intercept commercial trucks carrying hundreds of kilos of cocaine at several border crossings (most notably the Ambassador Bridge from Michigan to Windsor and the Blue Water Bridge near Sarnia, Ontario). Other large seizures were made in and around the GTA during the investigation, which was followed on June 6 by search warrants and coordinated arrests in Peel Region, Caledon, and the City of Toronto: the nine suspected arrested (in the pic above, released today by Peel Police) will now face a total of 35 charges. In total, 479 kilograms of cocaine in blocks were seized (in the pic below, from Peel Police’s press conference, today) as part of “Project Pelican” with an estimated street value of $47.9 million, and two semi-automatic firearms were also recovered.
Two other major operations were carried out, almost simultaneously, by the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP), who first dismantled a criminal organization that was using the dark web and Canada Post to ship drugs across the country: British Columbia, Nunavut, Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island.
In a first-of-its-kind investigation dubbed “Project Bionic,” police said they began investigating the criminal network in November 2024. On March 10, OPP officers arrested two suspects at a Canada Post location in Ottawa, where they seized 86 packages containing various types of drugs that were about to be shipped across the country. That same day, in the Ottawa area, police executed four search warrants that resulted in the seizure of a total of 27 kilograms and 64,000 pills of 37 different illegal drugs, as well as a stolen 2018 Ferrari 488 Spider convertible valued at more than $400,000, 11 other stolen vehicles valued at $730,000, a handgun and $95,000 in cash. OPP Commissioner Thomas Carrique said the operation highlighted the “alarming volume” of dangerous drugs being sold on the dark web. The four Ottawa suspects now face a total of 80 charges.
The OPP also completed a second investigation, which resulted in the largest seizure of fentanyl ever by law enforcement. “Project Golden,” an 11-month investigation conducted with the Hamilton Police Service and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, resulted in 140 charges being filed against 15 people accused of drug trafficking in southwestern Ontario. The investigation began in July 2024 and culminated in the execution of search warrants at 16 homes and eight vehicles in Oxford, Norfolk, Hamilton, Mississauga, York Region, Burlington and Toronto counties, with the assistance of local police. In total, agents seized 38 kilograms of fentanyl, an amount officials described as “enough to kill a medium-sized city.” They also seized another 19.5 kilograms of methamphetamine and 5.5 kilograms of suspected cocaine, along with three firearms and $121,600 in cash. The estimated street value of the seized drugs is $5.4 million.
