17 charged as Toronto-area drug and gun trafficking ring busted
Posted May 22, 2020 10:07 am.
Last Updated May 22, 2020 12:29 pm.
Police north of Toronto have laid more than 180 charges after dismantling a drug- and gun-trafficking ring.
York regional police say they’ve charged 17 people and seized 15 guns in the probe that stretched throughout the Toronto-area and Sudbury.
They say the investigation began while officers probed a home invasion on Colombo Crescent in Vaughan after a 26-year-old man was allegedly assaulted.
Police released a video of the home invasion in March that appears to show three armed suspects walking up the stairs, tying up the residents in the home and violently beating one of the victims.
York regional police say a crowbar seen in the video was unique and only sold at one retailer that allowed several suspects to be identified.
From late March to mid-May York regional police along with forces in Sudbury, Durham, Toronto, Peel, Hamilton, Halton and the OPP raided homes that led to more than 180 gun and drug charges which included the seizure of cocaine, fentanyl and cash.
Police say a number of the individuals arrested were previously prohibited from possessing a weapon including one suspect who had three weapons prohibition orders against him and was out on bail with a condition not to possess firearms.
The suspects charged range in age from 21 to 43.
Watch: Police unveil guns, drugs seized during investigation
