Guns & Drugs Both Seized In Huge Raid

Those are the words of Det. John Babiar, after a major police undercover operation netted not only a huge haul of drugs but a frightening cache of weapons.

Plainclothes officers were patrolling in Regent Park early Friday morning, when they saw what appeared to be a drug deal in progress. They approached a suspect who immediately took off on foot, with cops in hot pursuit.

He ran into a home on Regent Street, which cops allege is a safe house for gang and drug activity. They obtained a search warrant and found something they weren’t expecting – a mother load of guns and cocaine.

“We have seized a number of high-powered weapons and a large quantity of crack cocaine,” Babiar reveals.

“We have what appears to be an AK-47 assault rifle. We have a Sten machine gun. We also have a Desert Eagle .50-calibre pistol. We have a Glock pistol and an HK pistol along with a large amount of ammunition.”

And it appears those behind the stash were ready for business. “The ammunition was…packaged for sale in individual bags. So it appears that they are not only making the drugs at this address, but also selling the ammunition.”

Investigators admit they can go months making arrests and still never find this much contraband. “Sometimes we do get a break and here’s a good example,” muses Babiar.  

The home was registered to a woman but authorities don’t believe she actually lives there.

Some neighbours of the alleged crack house say they’ve noticed a decrease in drug trafficking in the area since the overnight arrests, but  doubt it’s going to last very long.  

While cops are happy with the find, they’re less pleased about the reception they received in the neighbourhood.

Officers say they were swarmed by an angry crowd as they went to make the arrest, and were forced to call for back-up.

Twenty-one year-old Jermaine Rowe is facing 62 charges, mostly for drug and weapons offences.  A 30-year-old man is charged with assaulting police.