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Drugs seized by police are shown in this undated handout photo. The bust involved multiple police forces, including the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, the RCMP and Windsor police.Ontario Provincial Police/via The Canadian Press
Nearly 1.7 tonnes of drugs including suspected cocaine were seized as part of a cross-border trafficking investigation, police announced in Windsor, Ont., on Thursday.
Investigators from local and provincial police forces are touting the operation as one of the single largest drug busts in the province’s history.
A criminal network relied on commercial trucks to move the drugs hidden inside legitimate shipments, police alleged. The seized drugs include 973 kilograms of what authorities suspect to be cocaine and 660 kilograms of suspected methamphetamine.
Twenty-one people are facing a total of 102 charges, and two suspects from Windsor are still wanted, officials said.
The bust involved multiple forces, including Windsor police, Ontario Provincial Police and the RCMP, as well as the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. Searches were carried out in Windsor, Brampton, Markham and other communities.
“This thing has got multiple tentacles throughout North America, let alone just Windsor and Ontario,” Windsor police Chief Jason Crowley said at Thursday’s news conference.
Police said they also seized 17 firearms, including an anti-tank rifle, and ammunition.
The drug and weapons trafficking “runs very deep, and it’s disturbing, to be honest,” Crowley said.
The Canada Border Services Agency said it has seized more than 5,500 kilograms of illegal drugs in southern Ontario so far this year.
The drug bust announcement comes days before the long-awaited Gordie Howe International Bridge connecting Ontario and Michigan is set to open.
Asked at Thursday’s news conference whether the bridge’s opening could spur more drug smuggling in the Windsor-Essex area, an official with the Canada Border Services Agency said it will be “very interesting to see” how traffic patterns change.
The bridge is equipped with advanced drug detection equipment and will be heavily staffed, said Michael Prosia, CBSA’s regional director general for southern Ontario, adding that police are well-positioned to prevent drug trafficking.
CBSA staff have spent years preparing for the opening of the new bridge, Prosia said.
OPP Det. Supt. Andy Bradford said Thursday that the 1.7-tonne drug seizure may leave some wondering whether that’s a failure of border security.
“The answer is no,” he said.
Bradford said the drugs and guns seizures are evidence of successful collaboration with U.S. authorities, and proof of a “persistent link” between drug trafficking and potential violence.