More than $45M in drugs and cash seized as twin drug gangs dismantled in York Region

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Chris Herhalt CP24.com

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Fifty people are facing charges and $45M worth of drugs, cash and other assets were seized as York Regional Police say they have dismantled twin drug rings that allegedly fueled synthetic drug production labs by selling “hundreds of pounds a day” of cannabis in the illicit market.

York Regional Police Supt. Mike Slack said the raids conducted this summer, targeting groups based in Vaughan and Markham, netted the largest seizure of fentanyl in his service’s history, and both groups allegedly used Health Canada medicinal marijuana production licenses to hide major cannabis grow operations.

The first group, targeted in “Project Zen,” involved a follow-up to a July 2018 raid where $3 million worth of drugs was found in a home in Kleinburg.

Staff Sgt. Doug Bedford said the seizure included 18 kilograms of cocaine, an amount large enough to indicate the operation was larger than just one drug stash in a residential home.

“It was clear to investigators that this was a sophisticated operation and that this group was involved in major drug trafficking.”

They eventually arrested eight people, and allegedly seized 125 kilograms of marijuana, 19 kilograms of cocaine, more than six kilograms of fentanyl and 16.5 kilograms of meth.

They also seized five handguns.

Bedford said one of the eight accused, Dat Nguyen, was out on bail on charges stemming from the July 2018 raid in Kleinburg at the time he was charged this summer in Project Zen.

He faces two counts of trafficking cocaine and two counts of conspiracy to traffic a controlled substance in addition to charges laid in relation to the July 2018 Kleinburg raid.

Starting in the summer of 2018, York Regional Police began tracking a second group operating in Markham, in a probe they called “Project Moon.”

Bedford said this group allegedly collected numerous Health Canada medicinal marijuana production licenses to shield a massive cannabis grow operation from scrutiny.

Due to a legal loophole, some of the medicinal cannabis licenses issued by Health Canada have no expiry date and were illegally “leased” by the group to increase the amount of cannabis they could grow.

The group allegedly ran “cannabis factories” out of farms in Leamington, Kawartha Lakes and Durham Region, with thousands of plants under their control.

On July 3, police raided the farms and allegedly seized 20,000 cannabis plants worth $20 to $40 million and 600 pounds of packaged cannabis.

The greenhouse they raided in Leamington allegedly held 7,000 plants on its own.

On July 24, police conducted another 17 raids, allegedly seizing cars, 1,250 pounds of packaged marijuana, meth, MDMA and ecstasy pills.

They also seized firearms including a Tec-9 submachine gun with a silencer. The gun was made infamous for its use in the 1999 Columbine High School shooting.

“The TEC 9 machine gun equipped with a silencer speaks for itself in terms of its danger to the community,” Bedford said.

He added that investigators believe the group employed street gangs, including Toronto’s Parkdale Crips, to move the large quantities of marijuana they produced on the illicit market, and used the proceeds to move into the production of synthetic drugs.

He said the Health Canada medicinal marijuana system allowed them to operate undetected.

“When a commodity of value is not properly regulated or enforced it provides an opportunity for organized crime to exploit. There are numerous gaps in the (Health Canada) legislation.”

A total of 42 people were arrested in Project Moon.

Bedford said officers from the OPP, Toronto police, Canada Border Services Agency and several other services assisted them in both investigations.

RELATED IMAGES 1 / 3 Drugs and guns, including a 9mm Tec-9 submachine gun with silencer (right), are shown at YRP HQ in Aurora on Aug. 8, 2019. (CP24) A greenhouse allegedly containing 7,000 cannabis plants in Leamington is shown in a helicopter camera image from YRP. Dried cannabis and pills are shown at YRP HQ in Aurora on Aug. 8, 2019. (CP24)