POLICE MONITORING FALLOUT AFTER HUGE DRUG BUST

Police are tracking the fallout of a large Niagara drug bust that
netted 20 people, waiting to see who tries to pick up the slack in the
local narcotics trade.

"The key to investigations like this is not only taking those people
out, but monitoring the streets and finding out who's going to take
over that business from these guys," said Hamilton Police Insp. Ted
Davis, who oversaw the joint forces operation.

Davis was speaking Wednesday as Niagara Regional Police displayed
cash, guns and drugs seized as part of a nine-month investigation into
a St. Catharines drug-trafficking ring.

The operation, dubbed Project O-Mercury, resulted in the seizure of 35
kilograms of marijuana, 120 marijuana plants, five kilograms of
cocaine and $830,000 in cash.

The cash was contained in a suitcase carried by a single courier
arrested on the side of an undisclosed Ontario highway, Davis said.

Police also seized 15 vehicles with an estimated total value of nearly
$400,000, and several weapons, including four semi-automatic firearms
and explosives.

But it was getting hold of the cash that hurt the drug ring most,
Davis said.

"If we can take away the toys, the vehicles, the homes; if we can take
the cash out of their hands, that's what makes the difference ... It
puts a dint in their organization," he said.

Project O-Mercury stemmed from an investigation into a
"non-traditional" organized crime group operating in the region and
the Golden Horseshoe.

"It quickly became apparent that it had the potential to infiltrate
the supply chain for the drugs of what we could categorize as
mid-level dealers," NRP Chief Wendy Southall said.

The NRP initiated a joint operation last January with the Golden
Horseshoe Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit, including drug
enforcement officers from the RCMP, Hamilton Police, Halton Regional
Police and Canada Border Services Agency.

Investigators were able to intercept private communications between
individuals, helping them identify dealers and drug couriers, Southall
said.

The people targeted were known to police.

Many of them were arrested during a similar crackdown on drug
trafficking in 2005.

The first arrests were in April, with the bulk of them coming earlier
this month when warrants were executed in St. Catharines.

On Sept. 4, NRP officers raided a St. Catharines home on President
Crescent and arrested several members of the Farinacci family,
charging them with drug-trafficking and weapons offences.

Two weeks later, police raided several locations in St. Catharines and
Thorold and arrested four people, who now face drug and proceeds of
crime charges.

Police arrested 20 individuals, who face a combined total of more than
75 criminal charges.

Investigators said arrest warrants have been issued for five other
people, who have not been identified.

"This investigation is still ongoing. There (are) still more people to
be arrested and there's still more property and vehicles to be
seized," Davis said.