BUSINESSES in Etobicoke were searched as 15 suspects busted in global drug ring. Police photo.
DRUGS being recovered from the processed clothing, according to police.
POLICE allege cocaine was soaked into clothing and then processed back into the powdered drug for resale by dealers.
A number of businesses in Etobicoke and 12 other municipalities were targeted for police searches as part of an international drug ring that smuggled hundreds of kilos of cocaine and other drugs into the Toronto area hidden in clothing.
Police said the cocained were soaked into clothing imported from Colombia and then processed in a laboratory to remove the cocaine from the garments so it can be sold when it arrives at its destination.
The OPP said Project Southam was a 15-month investigation that wrapped up this week with the arrest of 22 people from a number of Greater Toronto area crime groups.
“The GTA-based organized crime groups have been importing high volumes of cocaine into Canada for the purpose of trafficking as well as other criminal activities,” police said in a release.
The OPP Organized Crime Enforcement Bureau (OCEAB) said they targeted two groups whose members were working together to smuggle and sell the drugs in the GTA.
“An organized crime group was responsible for importing and trafficking cocaine from Colombia, concealed in textiles,” police alleged. “They would then establish a clandestine laboratory to process the cocaine into a sellable state.”
The groups allegedly conspired to import cocaine from the Caribbean and export cannabis from Canada to the U.S., police said.
Officers said 44 search warrants were executed on July 7 against 25 locations in Toronto, Innisfil, Mississauga, Oakville, Vaughan, Thornhill, Brampton and Ancaster.
Police said businesses were searched in Etobicoke, Vaughan, Hamilton and Mississauga.
The major investigation also involved the Provincial Intelligence Bureau (POIB), York Regional Police and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).
Police during the probe seized 92 kilograms of cocaine; 1 kilogram of methamphetamine; 249 kilograms of illicit cannabis; 1.3 kilograms of psilocybin; 21 litres of gamma-hydroxybutyrate; 980 oxycodone pills; a 5 mm handgun; a bar of silver worth $2,600, $372,000 in Canadian and $7,600 in U.S. funds and seven vehicles.
All the accuseds are before the courts.