Toronto police seize $30M in cocaine, crystal meth in months-long drug investigation

Toronto police say they have seized drugs with an estimated street value of around $32 million in a months-long investigation.

The investigation, dubbed Project Cerro, resulted in a seizure of almost 364 kilograms of crystal meth, 20 kilograms of cocaine and 3.8 kilograms of fentanyl, totalling around 390 kilograms of drugs.

Police also said four guns, seven cars — including a stolen 2022 Land Rover Range Rover with an estimated value of $150,000 — and $500,000 were seized during the investigation.

Several search warrants were executed on Jan. 17. The residences that were searched were all located in Toronto, police said.

Four men were arrested and several charges were laid against 35-year-old Paul Lelutiu, 40-year-old Troy Anthony Robinson, 39-year-old Manasinh Jittavong and 34-year-old Soheil Baharloo.

Charges include, but are not limited to, possession of a substance for the purposes of trafficking, conspiracy to commit an indictable offence of traffic in a controlled substance, and multiple firearm-related charges.

In a press conference on Wednesday, police said the investigation comes after the heels of Project Zafiro from November 2022, which was considered the “largest single-day drug seizure” in Toronto police’s history.

In that investigation, 671 kilograms of drugs such as crystal meth and cocaine were seized worth almost $60 million in street value.

Police said they have charged 46-year-old Terry Popovich, 36-year-old Nicole Watts and 35-year-old Cindy Macias.

Charges include drug trafficking, possession and conspiracy to commit an indictable offence of traffic in a controlled substance.

“It speaks to the cross-border issues, whether you’re involving firearms, whether you’re involving controlled substances,” Supt. Steve Watts of organized crime enforcement told reporters on Wednesday.

“The ability to manufacture crystal methamphetamine at a high level, at a pure level, these are coming from Mexico,” Watts said. “They’re being transported up through southern United States and up into Canada.”

View image in full screen

View image in full screen