Massive Gang Sweep Will Make The GTA “A Safer Place”
Posted June 13, 2007 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
It happened while you slept, under the same cover of darkness so many of their targets operate in. By the dawn’s early light, they pounced – more than 700 police officers from Toronto, York, Barrie, Niagara, the RCMP and the OPP converged on dozens of addresses across the GTA. Their goal – cripple a gang known as the Driftwood Crips. Authorities came armed with battering rams, rifles, police dogs and something equally powerful – 130 search warrants.
More than 60 suspects got that rude awakening Wednesday morning, as a steady parade of people in handcuffs streamed into 31 Division. Among the main areas hit – the troubled Jane-Finch community. “I believe that our city is safer today,” Chief Bill Blair intones of “Operation Kryptic. “The dismantling of this criminal organization and the removal of many dangerous offenders from our community will make a difference.”
The cops not only got their men and women, they also seized $1 million in drugs and found a cache of weapons. The lawmen allege the drugs were being smuggled through Pearson International Airport, and six accused gang associates who work in the cargo area there were among those hauled in. “The airport has in excess of 100,000 people working there, so like any large community, there are opportunities for criminality,” explains RCMP spokesman Robert Davis.
Cops have been careful to assure the massive sweep had nothing to do with the murder of 15-year-old Jordan Manners at C.W. Jefferys C.I. three weeks ago. The intricate planning has taken months to prepare for and the raids required pinpoint coordination that wouldn’t have been possible in that short a time.
Still, not everyone’s happy. During a press conference outlining the arrests, a protestor burst into the room screaming “screw the police” and other expletives, accusing the force of targeting his community. He was removed, as Blair denied anyone’s being singled out. “This was the gang that represented the greatest threat to the greatest number of people in the city of Toronto,” he maintains.
There are hundred of charges yet to be sorted out from the operation, and the Chief is aware that it won’t be long before many of those caught in the dragnet will be out on bail and back in the neighbourhoods where they were scooped up. But he vows cops will be closely watching them all and he hopes to put the guilty in jail when justice is finally served.
See unedited video of Toronto Police Chief Bill Blair’s press conference.
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