Police raided three synthetic drug labs across the Greater Toronto Area last week, seizing 37 kilograms of ketamine and smaller quantities of heroin, cocaine and MDMA.
The labs were located at a commercial building on Coville Road near Lawrence Avenue and Keele Street, a home on Plumbrook Crescent near Sheppard Avenue and Markham Road and another home on Northolt Crescent near Denison Street and Highway 3 in Markham.
Police raided the labs on Friday as they executed a total of 18 search warrants as part of a multi-jurisdictional investigation dubbed “Project Apollo.”
Eight people were arrested during the execution of the search warrants and charged with a combined 27 drug-related offences.
Police also seized 37 kilograms of ketamine, 1 kilogram of cocaine, 200 grams of MDMA, 11 grams of heroin as well as chemicals for ketamine production and lab glassware and other equipment.
The raids were conducted with assistance from the Toronto Police Service Drug Squad, the Integrated Gun and Gang Task Force, the TPS hazardous materials unit (CBRNE), the 43 Division Major Crime Unit, York Regional Police Drugs and Vice and the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit.
Police say that ketamine is an anesthetic typically used in veterinary surgery.
The drug prevents users from feeling pain and can produce “vivid dreams and a feeling that the mind is separated from the body,” according to police.
In addition to the eight people taken into custody last week, police continue to search for three additional suspects who remain outstanding.
