The Associated Press
ST-JEAN-SUR-RICHELIEU, Quebec Canada (CP) -- Police targeted 33 people, including 29 minors, in a crackdown Wednesday on alleged drug trafficking in two secondary schools south of Montreal.
Police arrested 22 people and were preparing to arrest 11 more as part of Operation Schoolyard, said Pierre Chouinard, a spokesman for the municipal force in St-Jean-sur-Richelieu.
Twenty-nine of the 33 are minors, Chouinard added.
“Most of them (the arrested) are students or were students at one of the two schools,” he said.
No staff members were involved in the alleged ring, which had been under investigation since the summer.
About 80 officers were involved in the raids in St-Jean-sur-Richelieu, about 30 kilometres south of Montreal.
Those arrested were taken to the old military college for questioning.
“With the size of our police station, we couldn’t bring 33 people here,” Chouinard said. “So we rented an area where it would be safe to bring in the juveniles.”
Police were to hold a news conference later in the day.