Ontario police seize over 43 kilograms of fentanyl in two massive drug trafficking investigations
An Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) patch is seen. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Spencer Colby
Ontario Provincial Police held a media conference on Tuesday to announce a historic fentanyl seizure following two lengthy drug trafficking investigations.
According to police, the investigations, dubbed Project BIONIC and Project GOLDEN, resulted in the seizure of 43.5 kilograms of fentanyl, equaling roughly 435,000 potentially deadly street-level doses.
'To put that into perspective, a population of 435,000 would be the fifth largest urban population centre in the Province of Ontario,' OPP stated in a release. 'The fentanyl seized through these investigations was mixed with other substances, which has been taken into consideration when estimating street-level doses.'
Project GOLDEN was an 11-month investigation into a multi-jurisdictional drug trafficking network across southwestern Ontario, and resulted in the OPP's largest fentanyl seizure to date - 38 kilograms.
Project BIONIC spanned five months and was the first of its kind for the OPP. It took aim at an operation utilizing the dark web to ship drugs across the country.
'As drug trafficking networks evolve in complexity, so too must our investigative strategies,' stated OPP Commissioner Thomas Carrique. 'We remain committed to cutting off supply chains and taking down criminal networks, becuase every gram of fentanyl we seize is a life potentially saved.'
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