Toronto Police announced the largest single-day seizure of drugs in the force’s history on Thursday, thanks to a pair of busts combining for a staggering 671 kilograms of drugs with a value of $58 million.
Cops boasted about the feat of policing in a live-streamed Thursday morning press conference, officers outlining details of the busts in a room that appeared filled to the brim with bags of seized substances like a display of illicit chemical trophies.
Deputy Chief Pauline Grey said, “We are here this morning to announce the largest single-day drug seizure in the history of the Toronto Police Service on display in front of us is a staggering 671 kilograms of illicit drugs, 520 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine and 151 kilograms of cocaine.”
“A seizure of this size, quite frankly, is going to save lives.”
According to Drug Squad Unit Commander Mandeep Mann, the haul shatters the previous record by more than double.
“The previous record, which was set in April of this year, the unit had seized 286 kilograms of cocaine and crystal methamphetamine at that time,” Mann told media, standing before rows upon rows of bagged and tagged packages of drugs.
Mann explains that “investigators identified two addresses here in Toronto are being used as stash houses for these illicit drugs,” and following an investigation and search warrants, executed searches on Oct. 5.
“What you’re seeing here is a result of those warrants,” said Mann, adding that “The estimated street value of the drugs that you see here before you, the 671 kilograms, is approximately $58 million.”
The cocaine seized alone would be enough to kill 329,679 150lb adults, and that’s not even factoring in the added body count 151 kilos of meth could produce.
Mann says that police have identified three people in connection with the busts, and that arrests are forthcoming.
“I cannot understate the significance of a seizure of this size, or the social cost of these drugs would have inflicted on our communities.”
“The drugs that were seized in the stash houses were destined for our neighbourhoods, [and] intercepting the flow of these drugs have prevented possible overdoses, which we all know is an epidemic facing our communities as we speak.”
“This seizure will help minimize the violence in Toronto that is driven by guns, gangs and drugs.”
