In a joint operation dubbed 'Project Carbon Copy,' police in Sault Ste. Marie arrested four suspects and seized narcotics with a street value of $170,000.
In all, 10 people were arrested April 14 in simultaneous operations by police in Brantford, Haldimand and Norfolk County. The operation targeted an organized crime ring involved in trafficking fentanyl in northern Ontario.
Six of the suspects were arrested in the Sault.
“This is a significant seizure for our community," Sault police Chief Hugh Stevenson is quoted as saying in a news release Wednesday.
“This is yet another example of great police work by our members. We are proud to participate in a meaningful joint forces operation.”
Led by the Brantford Police Service, Project Carbon Copy began in October 2021, and focused on dismantling an organized crime group distributing large quantities of fentanyl from southern Ontario to the northern regions of Ontario.
Just after midnight on April 14, Sault police officers stopped a rental vehicle as it entered Sault Ste. Marie.
"Police arrested the four occupants of the motor vehicle, and a subsequent search revealed 12 ounces of suspected fentanyl with a street value of $168,000 concealed within the vehicle," the news release said.
Four suspects, ages 19, 21, 23 and 26 – three from Brantford and one from St. George, Ont. – are all charged with trafficking.
Around the same time, arrests were made in Caledonia, where another $45,000 in drugs were seized, and in Brantford,
A raid of two Queen Street West apartments in the Sault led to more drug seizures and two more arrests. Thus time, both suspects were from the Sault.
“This is a significant seizure for our community," Stevenson said in the release.
"The intensive investigative work by members of our crime suppression unit and drug enforcement unit lead to approximately $170,000 worth of poison being removed from our community. This is yet another example of great police work by our members. We are proud to participate in a meaningful joint forces operation.”
