MASSIVE RAID NETS GUNS, DRUGS

Cross-Border 'Pipeline' Busted In Police Sweep Involving Officers
From All Parts Of Gta

Handguns destined for Toronto streets were swapped for drugs in a
lucrative Canada-U.S. "pipeline" run by a sophisticated, white-collar
organized crime network, Toronto police said yesterday.

Black-market Viagra, cocaine and guns were seized and 27 arrests were
made by police in a massive sweep of communities across the city and
the GTA yesterday.

Officers and Emergency Task Force members raided residences on
well-to-do Bellair St. in Yorkville, as well as in the Yonge St. and
Sheppard Ave. area, as part of the crackdown.

"We are shocked by the extent of the criminal enterprise that we have
uncovered in this investigation," said Toronto police chief Bill
Blair at a media conference held after the raids yesterday.

"It is most certainly a source of a vast number of the illegal
handguns that have been making their way on to the streets of
Toronto, that have caused so much death and destruction and fear in
our communities," he said.

The announcement came as the city reeled from recent bouts of
shocking gun violence, including the murder of Dylan Ellis and Oliver
Martin last Friday. A funeral for Martin was held earlier yesterday.
Fourteen people have been killed by gun violence in Toronto so far in 2008.

The case against the multinational crime ring began to unravel in
2006 when U.S. law enforcement tipped off Waterloo Regional Police
that a cache of 237 handguns, originating from a retailer in the
Chicago area, had been smuggled into the country.

Guns came in at the border between Detroit and Windsor, police said.

Waterloo police informed both the Toronto Police Guns and Gangs Task
Force and the Provincial Weapons Enforcement Unit, who discovered
that a Canadian crime ring was involved in the manufacture and
distribution of vast quantities of drugs aimed at both the American
and Canadian markets.

The crime network manufactured large quantities of crystal meth,
ecstasy and hydroponic marijuana, trading the Canadian-made drugs for
guns, cocaine and cash from the U.S.

"The connection between guns and drugs is well known to us," said
Blair. "But we've never seen it on this scale."

Many of the handguns coming from the U.S. were destined for sale to
drug traffickers and violent street gangs in Toronto.

The guns sell for $1,500 to $3,000 each on the street, according to
Toronto police Staff Inspector Greg Getty.

Blair emphasized the crime network was high-level and multinational.
Police said they would release more information about its members in
the following days.

"This is not a street gang," he said. "This is a highly organized and
highly successful criminal enterprise."

The vastness of the crime network led to the genesis of Project
Blackhawk in 2006, a sweeping investigation involving officers from
every corner of the GTA.

Approximately 50,000 pills of black-market Viagra, 47 guns, large
quantities of cocaine, heroin and marijuana and 18 vehicles - some
equipped with secret compartments for hiding and transporting guns
and drugs - were seized in yesterday's pre-dawn raids.

Eighty-two guns have been seized over the course of the investigation.

More arrests are expected, police said.

Canada seems to have become something of a destination for
traffickers seeking certain drugs.

"What this investigation has proven is that Toronto and Canada (have)
become a manufacturer of methamphetamine and ecstasy both for
domestic consumption as well as export to the United States," said Blair.

Ecstasy pills found in the investigation - 400,000 were seized in one
earlier raid - had higher than normal amounts of crystal meth in them.

Police believe this makes the ecstasy more dangerous, potentially
sneaking up on users who don't perceive ecstasy as an addictive substance.

Those arrested yesterday will appear in court today.