44 people face 224 charges in ‘Project Traveller’ probe
Posted June 17, 2013 6:01 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Forty-four people face 224 charges in the year-long police investigation dubbed Project Traveller that targeted gang activity in Toronto, Windsor and Edmonton, Toronto police say.
News of the investigation surfaced last Thursday when police said 28 of the 44 people were nabbed during a series of early morning raids in Windsor and in north Etobicoke at several apartment complexes on Dixon Road that involved the so-called Dixon City Bloods.
One of the buildings, 320 Dixon Rd., was where Toronto Star reporters say they viewed a video allegedly of Mayor Rob Ford smoking from a crack pipe.
They were given a photo of Ford and three others including murder victim Anthony Smith who was gunned down outside a downtown nightclub in March.
Police haven’t said if Ford was in any way part of their year-long investigation but they did say that one of the 28 suspects arrested in Thursday’s raids faces a previous murder charge in Smith’s death.
More than $3 million of drugs, $572,000 in cash and 42 firearms were seized during the Thursday raids, police said.
Ten people are still outstanding, police said.
Officers said they returned to 320 Dixon on Monday to help give the community a sense of security after the raid.
“They should have come a long time ago,” one resident told CityNews. “I’m happy to see them here.”
Police said neighbours tipped them off to a drug den in an infrequently used stairwell in the building’s underground parking garage.
“Basically the drug dealers hang out here,” Sgt. Paul Qurishi told CityNews. “(They sell)anything from marijuana to crack to heroin possibly.”
Police said it’s possible the dealers would plant a scout at the door and yell down to alert others if authorities were in the area, allowing them to scatter into the parking complex without being noticed.
