Toronto police have arrested nine suspected gang members and associates after carrying out a series of raids across the city overnight.
The massive operation by the force's gangs and guns unit, dubbed "Project Cheddar," targeted numerous locations downtown, in the west end and in North York.
Police seized:
- Six firearms;
- Seven kilograms of cocaine, worth millions of dollars; and
- A quantity of marijuana and other illicit drugs.
Police arrested seven men and two women during the sweep. One of the accused is 26-year-old Alejandro Vivar, who was acquitted of murder three years ago.
Vivar stood trial for first-degree murder in the 2002 gang slaying of Gary Malo, the former ringleader of the Christie Boys who was fatally shot in a west-end bar. The case involved the Latino Americanos (LA Boys) gang, of which Vivar was an alleged member.
Investigators on Thursday said their operation intercepted a large shipment of guns and drugs that were supposed to reach the streets of the Greater Toronto Area.
Police plan to release the names of the other accused, and the charges they face, at a news conference on Thursday.
With a report from CTV's Jim Junkin
