Cops Display Huge Hauls In ‘Project Cheddar’ Raids
Posted December 7, 2007 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Over the last few months, cops have been gathering evidence about the alleged activities of a local gang. On Wednesday and Thursday, they crept through the city under cover of darkness and raided nine separate addresses and took nine suspects – two women and seven men – into custody in a secret operation they called “Project Cheddar.”
On Friday, they revealed the fruits of those undercover labours – a huge haul of drugs, weapons, ammunition and cash.
Police believe they’ve made a significant dent in a local gang they claim was spreading the poison across the streets of the city. “Over the last few weeks there’s been a total of just over 10 kilos of cocaine seized,” reveals Det. Sgt. Doug Quan. “There have been six handguns seized as a result of the arrest and the search warrants of December 5th and the 6th.
“These handguns … vary in calibres from .22 calibres right up to .50 calibre. There’s .40 calibres as well as some .380. There was also approximately $130,000-plus cash that was seized during the warrants. There was over 300 rounds of ammunition.”
The coke alone is believed to be worth more than a million dollars. Quantities of marijuana and Ecstasy were also seized.
But Project Cheddar also netted a potentially big cheese – 26-year-old Jose Vivar, reputed to be the leader of the Latino Americanos Boys. He and another man were acquitted three years ago in the 2002 murder of a rival gang member, Gary Malo, alleged to be the leader of the Christie Boys gang.
Vivar is now facing 16 charges, including multiple counts of possessing a restricted firearm with ammunition, trafficking in firearms and prohibited weapons, and possession of cocaine and marijuana.
The others being held are all in their mid-20s, with the exception of a 41-year-old Brockville man. All are facing similar accusations and all nine made their first court appearance at Old City Hall Friday morning.
Cops know their efforts targeted a single gang, but believe there will be a domino effect with all those guns and all those drugs suddenly missing. “It’s an investigation that was above the street level,” Quan admits. “But it does have ramifications at every level of the drug dealing.”
