DRUG SWEEP NETS 34 ARRESTS

Police rounded up 34 people from Midland, Port McNicoll and Lafontaine
on Thursday in what investigators are calling one of the most
successful drug busts in the region's history.

Officers from Midland Police Services, Barrie police, and the OPP's
weapons, organized crime and drug units pooled resources in recent
months to conduct a joint undercover investigation named Project Big
Wheel.

The investigation, which began in March, ended early Thursday with the
simultaneous execution of eight Controlled Drug and Substances Act and
Criminal Code search warrants at homes in the three
communities.

"The purpose of the investigation was to provide a focused enforcement
against street-level drug dealers in the town of Midland and the
communities that comprise the Southern Georgian Bay area," Mike
Osborne, Midland's acting police chief, said at a press conference
Friday.

Osborne said Midland investigators began gathering evidence in March
that identified street-level dealers operating in the communities.

"The primary objectives of this investigation would significantly
impact a number of these communities which have regrettably been
subjected to the various levels of drug dealing," he said.

Osborne added police recognized the drug problem was not only very
serious, but was deeply rooted in Midland and surrounding areas,
prompting them to form a partnership with the OPP.

"The project . quickly provided solid evidence against many of the
people previously identified. It became evident to us that large
amounts of powder and crack cocaine, along with marijuana, hashish and
pharmaceutical drugs including OxyContin, were readily available."

The team was able to make undercover drug purchases from people living
within these communities, he noted.

Due to the evidence collected over the past four months as part of
Operation Big Wheel, police laid 355 criminal charges again 34 people
and seized drugs with an estimated street value of $154,000.

Police also seized nine guns, three vehicles, a boat, a generator, a
water pump, two outboard motors and a laptop computer.

Officers also confiscated several cellphones - one of which began to
ring loudly with the Kelly Clarkson song "Already Gone" as its ring
tone during Friday's press conference.

Insp. Bryan Martin, project manager of the OPP's organized crime
enforcement bureau, drug Enforcement unit, said the seizure of illegal
drugs that were destined for local streets, and the recovery of a
significant amount of property and weapons, will have a huge impact on
the local drug trade.

"(This will) effectively impact those members of society that have
chosen to follow the path associated with a lack of respect for the
law and the neighbourhoods they've conducted their illegal
activities," he said. "Those individuals that were arrested as a
result of Operation Big Wheel have jeopardized their neighbours as a
result of their actions for what I hope is the last time."

Martin said despite the success of the project, it's an ongoing battle
to get illegal drugs off the streets.

"Drug dealers . are like cockroaches - one goes and one grows back.
We're constantly out there trying to exterminate them."

Det. Const. Chris Quesnelle of the Midland Police Services drug unit,
was the lead investigator on the project. He told The Mirror the busts
and seizures are a "really big deal."

"We had identified numerous people that were involved with drug
trafficking within our community and, as a result of the
investigation, (have) been able to charge them and hopefully prosecute
them in the court system," he said.

"I think we've made a really big dent. The reality of it is, is drug
trafficking going to stop in the town of Midland? No, but we have been
able to identify a lot of the main suppliers of cocaine."

OPP Const. Peter Leon said the investigation that culminated in the
search warrants being executed last week is a great accomplishment for
the police services and the individual officers involved.

"What we're very, very satisfied with is we've removed drugs from the
streets, we've successfully taken a significant number of weapons from
the streets, and in doing so, by arresting individuals and placing
them before the courts, we're very fortunate that our communities are
going to be safer as a result."