Cops net large cache of drugs, cash, guns
[attach]6164[/attach]A major police investigation into cocaine distribution resulted in numerous arrests after a series of raids that included two in North York condos.
Project Domo, which was started in September 2011 by the Toronto Police’s organized crime enforcement drug squad major project section, concluded on June 26 with an organized series of 29 raids across the GTA.
On that day, one of the raids took place on Rean Drive, near Sheppard and Bayview. The man arrested in connection with the residence searched there was also connected to two residences in Scarborough and one in Oshawa.
A week before the simultaneous raids, police executed another set of search warrants that included one at a condominium townhome complex at 3 Everson Dr., near Yonge and Sheppard on June 19.
In that raid, combined with an address in Scarborough, police seized nine firearms, including a MAC 10 and MAC 11, the latter of which Det. Sgt. Karl Sobotka from the drug squad’s major projects section said had the capability to fire 1,200 rounds of ammunition per minute.
“Every one of those guns is capable of being involved in a shooting in a busy shopping mall or on a street corner,” he said to the Town Crier, alluding to the significance of the Eaton Centre and Little Italy shootings. “The only purpose of a MAC 10 and MAC 11 is to kill somebody.”
Also in the June 19 raids, police seized a quantity of drugs including 11.6 kilos of cocaine, almost a kilo of MDMA and close to half a kilo of marijuana.
Throughout the entire investigation, police seized a total of more than $4.5 million in drugs, $200,000 in cash, and more than $700,000 in proceeds of crime, which includes vehicles. A total of 38 people have been charged, and 13 firearms were seized. Police said one person remains outstanding.
As for the investigation itself, Sobotka said as they continued to investigate, they found more and more people involved.
“We were focusing on a group, one member of that group … through our investigation, led us to some other people. All of those people don’t know these other people,” he said. “They’re all drug dealers and there’s just a common connection between one group and the other.”
Sobotka said police are continuing to investigate based on other information they collected during this investigation and are hopeful it will lead them to more dealers and suppliers. In the meantime, he felt the results of Project Domo were significant.
“In my opinion, this stuff was destined for the streets of Toronto,” he said.
Toronto man Daniel Chen, 36, was arrested and charged in connection with the June 26 raids, while 24-year-old Kevin Hau from Woodbridge and Alain Hau, 26, of Toronto, face a combined 64 drug and firearm-related charges in connection with the June 19 raids.
[align=right]— With files from Sarah Taguiam
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