Vaughan
November 28, 2008 02:56 PM
Joe Fantauzzi, Staff Writer
A Maple resident was among 21 people arrested in connection with what Durham Regional Police call a drug importation ring.
The investigation, called Project Gallant, was launched a year ago with the targeting of what police called Durham’s “most prolific drug dealers”.
The goal was to stop drugs from reaching Durham’s borders.
Two separate groups importing cocaine and marijuana from the Caribbean were disrupted after drugs were seized three times at Pearson International Airport, Durham police said.
During one incident, a woman was picked up after getting off a flight from the Caribbean with four kilograms of cocaine stashed in her suitcase, police said.
About a week later, a man travelling from the same place was caught with four kilograms of cocaine in his luggage, police said.
In another incident, a woman was found with a suitcase full of raw fish. The fish had been slit open, revealing more than six kilograms of tightly-wrapped packages of marijuana, police said. Investigators pegged the street value of the drugs at $960,000 on the streets.
More than 70 charges against 21 people were laid during the probe.
“Drug trafficking in our neighbourhoods ruins people’s lives and is a primary driver of street crime and other acts of violence,” Durham Regional Police Chief Mike Ewles said in a statement. “We will do whatever it takes to prevent illicit drugs from endangering our communities.”
A 24-year-old Maple resident is charged with conspiracy, importing marijuana and possession for the purpose of trafficking.
Residents of Toronto, Ajax, Oshawa and Kingston are also charged in the case.
Sex crimes officers are investigating after police were told a sexual assault took place Monday in Richmond Hill.