Five Ontario residents are facing charges in connection with a massive drug bust that police are calling the largest methamphetamine seizure in the province's history.
Officers from the province’s Asian Organized Crime Task Force told reporters Thursday morning that 120 kilograms of pure methamphetamine, more than 110,000 meth pills and 14 kilograms of meth powder were seized during nine raids conducted throughout the province in late July.
Investigators said the pure methamphetamine was enough to make approximately four million pills.
Five vehicles and $81,000 in cash were also seized, and three illegal drug labs were dismantled, including a large lab in Warkworth and a pill-pressing lab in Campbellford.
Police said a total of approximately $5 million worth of illegal drugs were seized, with an approximate street value of $40 million, CTV's Tamara Cherry reports.
Ontario Provincial Police Chief Supt. Mike Armstrong said that most of the drugs were likely heading out of the country.
“When you have this volume of drugs… this isn’t that big of a market,” he said.
Seven search warrants were carried out at homes and businesses across the Greater Toronto Area and an additional two search warrants were carried out near Campbellford and Warkworth.
Cherry said meth labs can pose additional dangers to the communities they are in, because they hold large quantities of chemicals that are often toxic and potentially explosive.
The AOCTF is comprised of officers from the Toronto Police Service, York Regional Police, Peel Regional Police, Ontario Provincial Police, RCMP and the Canada Border Services Agency.
With files from CTV Toronto's Tamara Cherry, CP24 and The Canadian Press
