The Associated Press
TORONTO (CP) -- Pipe bombs, handguns, sawed-off shotguns and a sawed-off rifle were all part of the loot confiscated in a five-month crackdown on gangs and drugs, police said Friday.
Simultaneous raids on seven homes in east-end Toronto and two in nearby Markham, Ont., began early Thursday morning and ended with the arrest of 14 people -- all allegedly affiliated with a gang called 18 Buddha.
“It’s a grand day in the crime-fighting business,” said Supt. Bill Blair.
Police seized drugs, counterfeit money and stolen goods in an operation they dubbed Project Monk.
Detectives hope ballistics tests will show one of the handguns seized was used in the Nov. 1 murder of Derek Wah Yan, 40.
Yan was hit in the chest by a bullet while he was watching television in his home with his seven-year-old son.
Police said they believe the gang is involved in extortion, robberies, home invasions, drug and gun trafficking, shootings, fraud and break-ins.
Undercover operatives had infiltrated the gang, which at one point had a membership of more than 100 and runs its own Web site.
Those arrested face more than 100 drug, weapons and other charges. (Toronto Sun)