The Associated Press
TORONTO- The largest police raid in Toronto’s history took place Thursday as more than 70 people were arrested after hundreds of officers from several forces carried out a series of pre-dawn raids that targeted a street gang, Toronto’s police chief said.
Toronto police were joined by more than 600 officers from other forces, including Montreal police and the Royal Canadian Police, in arresting people with suspected ties to the Jamestown Crew street gang in what Toronto police Chief Bill Blair called the largest raid of its kind in the
force’s history.
By Thursday afternoon, at least 78 people ranging in age from their late teens to 20s had been arrested, with dozens more arrests expected. They are expected to face charges including attempted murder, weapons trafficking, attempting to obstruct justice and firearms offenses.
Blair said the Jamestown Crew is among the city’s most violent gangs, and its reach goes beyond the city’s northwest corridor where it’s said to be based.
Blair said the raids were “exceptionally well-done” without shots being fired.
Toronto was rattled by a record number of gun-related deaths in 2005. Of the 78 homicides in the city last year, a 52 were by gunfire.
“We are absolutely committed to reducing the violence that the city experienced last year,” Blair said.
Officers seized more than 20 weapons, including a pair of Mac-10 automatic pistols and an AK-47 assault rifle.
Police also seized 15 kilograms (33 pounds) of cocaine and large amounts of other drugs, including marijuana. Hundreds of thousands of dollars (euros) were also recovered, as well as four cars.
Blair said the guns were part of a “firearms importation scheme” run by criminal organizations that provide weapons to the Jamestown Crew and other Toronto gangs.
“Significant progress has been made in shutting down a pipeline of firearms that were being imported illegally into this country and getting into the hands of violent gangs,” Blair said.
He said the involvement of Montreal police in the raids stemmed from a connection between street gangs in the two cities, but he did not specify the nature of the link.