About 600 police officers from several forces arrested 78 people after carrying out dozens of raids with "military precision" in northwest Toronto early Thursday, the city's police chief said.
Toronto Police Chief Bill Blair commended his officers for carrying out the raids. (Frank Gunn/ Canadian Press)
FROM JAN. 5, 2006: Ontario announces $51M program to fight gun violence
The pre-dawn raids on up to 60 places resulted in 78 people being charged with offences ranging from attempted murder to drug and firearms trafficking to membership in a criminal gang.
The operation was among several recent crackdowns aimed at dismantling Toronto street gangs. This one focused on an organization known as the Jamestown Crew, which operates throughout the GTA, police said.
Toronto Police Chief Bill Blair commended his officers for carrying out the raid "with military precision." Nearly 100 warrants were executed and no shots were fired, he said.
"Our officers went into houses and buildings where there are armed people who have demonstrated in the past they're willing to use firearms," he said at news conference on Thursday.
"The leadership of the Jamestown Crew has been surgically removed from their community."
Cracked major gun pipeline, police say
Police also seized 20 firearms, including an AK-47 assault rifle and two MAC-10 automatic machine pistols. Several hundred thousand dollars in cash, four vehicles and 15 kilograms of cocaine were also seized.
Blair said police have cracked a major pipeline of illegal guns that are being smuggled from the United States to Toronto.
"We have identified the source of those guns and significant progress has been made in shutting down a pipeline of firearms that were being imported illegally into this country," said Blair.
Police gathered from many forces
The officers involved in the raid came from several forces, including the guns and gangs task force of the Toronto Police Services, the forces for Peel, York and Durham regions, the Ontario Provincial Police and the RCMP. Officers also came from Brantford, Ont., Montreal and the United States.
So many officers were involved in the massive raid that extra vehicles had to be rented to transport them all.
Armed officers rode in the back of trucks, speeding through intersections that were blocked off by patrol officers.
Police were later seen checking the trunks of nearby vehicles for any other suspects and evidence that may have eluded the initial raids.
They said many more charges are expected along with more details of the allegations against those arrested.
Seeing more guns, 'everyone is scared'
Residents of the troubled neighbourhood said they've noticed an increase in gun violence, even within the past two weeks.
"Everyone is scared," said Hassan Abtidon, the executive director of the Thistletown Community Services Unit in the heart of the area.
"To live here is very, very bad, I'm telling you. These gunshots, they never stop. They always continue. Even children will tell you, 'There's a gunshot, there's a gunshot.' It's very tough."
Abtidon said there was a period of relative calm in the past couple of years, "but now it come back again and we have no idea about the cause. Only the police know."
Some of the people seen being brought to 23 Division included the children of suspects.