A joint police operation has brought down a major cocaine and methamphetamine trafficking network that brought drugs from Mexico to the Kingston area.

High-ranking officers from the Organized Crime Enforcement Bureau, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the Ontario Provincial Police, the Canada Border Services Agency and Kingston Police made the announcement Monday afternoon in the city police offices. Also involved were the United States Drug Enforcement Administration and the United States Border Patrol.

Drugs and personal property were seized during raids on seven properties on Howe Island, Joyceville, Trenton and Gananoque. Fifteen people were arrested.

The operation was called Project Kendal, a computer-generated name, and was started last February.

Among the drugs seized were 15 kg of cocaine, a kilogram of crystal meth and 2.3 kg of marijuana. Four vehicles and an ATV were also taken. Police seized $40,000 in cash, two prohibited weapons and a $43,000 watch.

Also found was a 50-ton hydraulic press used to compress the cocaine into bricks for easier movement.

“This project being announced this afternoon resulted in a very significant seizure that will have a direct impact on the drug sub-culture in our area,” said Insp. Brian Fleming of the city police investigative services. He couldn’t recall any local seizure of cocaine so large.

“The cocaine arrived in Canada with Kingston as its final destination. It was then further distributed and sold on our streets and the surrounding area. This is a high-end organization that actually got the drugs from another country, came into Canada, into Kingston, and they were going to distribute it. And we have taken out the network.”

He said the operation would “drastically curtail the cocaine market in the Kingston area” but officers are always working to wipe it out completely.

“Our message is clear. The size of the organization doesn’t matter. If you deal drugs in our community, we will collectively gather our resources and come after you.”

He said the value of the drugs seized was “extremely significant, especially when you put it down to the street level.”

It would definitely hamper the drug market in Kingston but now the cell has been dismantled other criminals will move in to take over, he said.

Acting Supt. Patricia Dobbin, of the OPP’s organized crime enforcement bureau, said it was a complex investigation sparked by information from the community into a drug-based criminal organization involved in the production and distribution of cocaine and crystal met in the greater Kingston area.

She said the investigation found large amounts of money being moved to Mexico by members of the group.

“Investigators had to overcome significant hurdles including suspects that lived on an island in the St. Lawrence and spent an abundant amount of time in Mexico,” she continued.

That island was Howe Island, where police had centred their activities last week.

Key to their work was the discovery of three medallions of miniature AK-47s found at the suspects’ residences.

“Investigators located pictures of these suspects wearing the medallions in Mexico. The DEA has advised us that the wearing of these medallions is symbolic in Mexico as being part of the drug-dealing sub-culture.”

“Every kilo of cocaine seized is a significant loss for criminals and has a ripple effect on the distribution network all the way back to the source country.”

She said much of the cocaine seized was found in PVC piping or ammunition boxes hidden at the various properties searched.

The street value of the drugs seized “is in the millions,” she said.

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Fifteen people have been arrested and charged following a joint law enforcement investigation into a drug smuggling network.

• Charged with possession for the purpose of trafficking and trafficking under the Controlled Drug and Substances Act are: Wayne Deir, 67, of Kingston; Linda Deir, 60, of Kingston; Stephen Kraus, 45, of Joyceville; Murray Keyes, 31, of Gananoque.

• Charged with three counts of trafficking and one count of possession for the purpose of trafficking and possession is John Mills, 31, of Gananoque.

• Charged with possession for the purpose of trafficking are: Gerald Lapointe, 65, of Kingston; James Allen, 55, of Elgin; Brady Maher, 28, of Kingston; Glen Ashby, 55, of Carrying Place; James McCormac, 50, of Elginburg;Sean Westwood, 41, of Gananoque; Barrie Chalmers, 52, of Kingston.

• Charged with trafficking, four counts of possession for the purpose of trafficking, one count of possession and two counts of possession of a prohibited weapon is John Brummell, 38, of Trenton.

• Charged with four counts of trafficking and unsafe storage of a firearm is Kevin Truesdale, 28, of Gananoque.

• Charged with one count of unsafe storage of a firearm is Craig Goodfriend, 42, of Gananoque.