Toronto police say 173 guns were seized in both Canada and the U.S. as part of a cross-border firearms trafficking investigation.
“A seizure of this size is definitely going to save lives on the streets of the GTA and elsewhere,” Toronto police Supt. Steve Watts told reporters on Tuesday.
As part of a year-long investigation, Project Moneypenny saw a large number of firearms seized, 42 people arrested, and 422 criminal charges laid. Illegal narcotics such as fentanyl, carfentanil and cocaine as well as cash were also seized, police said.
Toronto’s Deputy Police Chief Robert Johnson said of the guns seized, 87 of them were handguns wrapped in bubble wrap “to avoid damage to the firearms” and then wrapped in holiday paper in an “attempt to avoid detection by border security.”
The guns were then placed in suitcases at the back of a Chicago vehicle being driven by a resident from Arizona and were destined for Canada, Johnson said.
“Thanks to the dedicated efforts of law enforcement agencies in Canada and the United States, we have effectively disrupted criminal organizations and their illicit activities,” Johnson said.
As for the rest of the firearms, police allege several people were involved in illicit firearm sales in Toronto and the Greater Toronto Area and that some of the guns were even sold to undercover officers.
Police said the seized firearms originated in Arizona, Florida, North Carolina, Georgia, Ohio, and Texas.
“A significant volume of them came from Arizona,” Watts told reporters. “Largest undefended border in the world, right. We all know that. So there’s a variety of smuggling techniques that are used.”
- Toronto Pearson gold heist: Ontario man arrested at airport after arriving from India
- Man charged in surfer deaths told girlfriend he killed ‘3 gringos,’ court hears
- ‘I believe they’re looking for me’: Man arrested after triple stabbing in Mississauga, Ont.
- Drone used to smuggle $250,000 worth of contraband into N.B. prison, police say
“It’s supply and demand,” Watts continued. “These firearms are sold for three, four, five hundred per cent markup so there’s a demand for them and they’re sold to different individuals, different organized crime groups and it’s essentially an economic type of advantage to sell a firearm in Ontario.”
In total, police said they seized 86 firearms — 75 handguns and 11 long guns — in the Greater Toronto Area, along with the 87 handguns seized in Chicago, Illinois.
They said they also seized 45 over-capacity magazines, 1,454 rounds of ammunition, three auto switches and three sets of body armour. About $184,000 in cash from “proceeds of crime” was also seized.
In relation to the drugs, police said they seized about 1.5 kilos of fentanyl/carfentanil with a street value of approximately $300,000, and 1.8 kilos of cocaine with a street value of approximately $190,000.
Project Moneypenny began in March 2022 by Toronto police’s guns and gangs unit and then merged later on with York Regional Police which began a firearms investigation of their own in July 2022.
By September 2022, the investigations combined with help from Ontario government funding and included the Ontario Provincial Police, Durham Regional Police, CBSA (Canada Border Services Agency), and several American law enforcement agencies to “maximize potential for a positive investigative outcome.”
Police said the joint investigation focused on “dismantling the smuggling network and identifying and prosecuting those responsible.”
Hundreds of firearm-related charges were laid against 42 people. A full list of those arrested, including charges, can be found here.
Comments