Toronto Police Service has revealed the details of the largest drug takedown in the service’s history.
Police Chief James Ramer announced the results of ‘Project Brisa’ on Tuesday morning. The project was the largest ever coordinated and executed by the Toronto Police Service’s drug squad and resulted in a seizure of drugs with an estimated street value of more than $61 million.
“Let me be clear, the size and scope of this investigation in terms of drugs seized and potential harm caused has never been seen before in the history of our service,” said Ramer.
From November 2020 up until May 2021, there were 35 search warrants executed across Canada and the six-month project led to the arrest of 20 people, including one young person, and the seizure of more than 1,000 kilos of illicit drugs.
Police say there are two outstanding suspects who along with the 20 already arrested are facing a combined 182 charges.
The investigation involved both Canadian and American law enforcement and focused on cocaine and crystal meth that was being imported into Canada by tractor-trailers from Mexico through California.
Police say the tractor-trailers were able to smuggle up to 100 kilograms of drugs due to hydraulic traps.
Ramer says the traps in the vehicles added a complexity that made it difficult to detect the illicit substances.
“I can tell you they were sophisticated to the point where an x-ray was not able to penetrate those traps,” said Ramer.
He says the seizure of the drugs has prevented overdoses and drug-related violence.
Throughout the investigation, the following items were seized
- 444 kilos of cocaine
- 182 kilos of crystal meth
- 427 kilos of marijuana
- 300 oxycodone pills
- $966,020 in CDN currency
- 21 vehicles, including 5 tractor-trailers
- 1 firearm
Ramer was joined by Ontario Provincial Police Chief Superintendent Paul Mackey, York Regional Police Chief James MacSween, and the Canada Border Services Agency Toronto Area Region Director of the Intelligence and Enforcement Operations Division David Glos for the announcement.
Project Brisa was the result of a multi-agency collaboration that included:
- Ontario Provincial Police
- York Regional Police
- United States Drug Enforcement Agency
- United States Department of Homeland Security
- Canada Border Services Agency
- Windsor Police Service
- Montreal Police Service (SPVM)
- RCMP detachments in Nova Scotia, Manitoba, Alberta and British Columbia
- Government of Ontario – Criminal Intelligence Services Ontario (CISO)
- FINTRAC
