Toronto police have laid hundreds of charges against 150 people over the weekend, cracking down on drug-dealing in the city's downtown core.
After receiving a number of complaints from residents, undercover officers were deployed to the area and were able to make the arrests.
"(The 150 suspects face) 428 charges which included trafficking, possession of narcotics for the purpose of trafficking and proceeds of crime," said a police news release issued Monday.
The five-week project, dubbed the Policing without Borders Drug Project, involved officers from both 51 Division and 14 Division. Drug dealers in the city's Regent Park neighbourhood and the Parkdale-Bloor Lansdowne area in the west end were targeted in the blitz.
Officers targeted both areas of the city because drug dealers tend to move between neighbourhoods to avoid attracting attention from the police.
Investigators seized about $240,000 worth of drugs during the project including:
- crack cocaine and powder cocaine
- marijuana and hashish
- ecstasy (MDMA)
- crystal methamphetamine
- ketamine
- GHB
- oxycodone
- valium
- Viagra
- codeine
- lorazepam
Most of the people who have been charged have been in trouble with the law before, police say. They have a combined 2,276 prior convictions, most of them drug related.
Police say many of the suspects have been released on bail with various court-imposed conditions.
"(Extra officers) will be deployed throughout the summer months to patrol these communities and conduct compliance checks on anyone released on bail, to ensure they are abiding by their conditions of release," the release said. "These additional police officers will also be deployed to supplement the 51 and 14 Division officers to patrol these neighbourhoods."
Police also seized $80,000 in cash, which they say is the proceeds from drug sales. No weapons were found on any of the accused suspects.
With a report from CTV Toronto's Jim Junkin
