Ontario Provincial Police Commissioner Thomas Carrique announces the results of two large-scale drug trafficking investigations in Orillia, Ont., on Tuesday.Fred Lum/The Globe and Mail
The Ontario Provincial Police have seized 43.5 kilograms of fentanyl – the equivalent of 435,000 street doses – the biggest seizure of the synthetic opioid in the force’s history.
Commissioner Thomas Carrique announced the results of two separate operations at OPP headquarters in Orillia on Tuesday, standing next to a table piled high with bagged, coloured powders and stacks of cash, as well as a blue Ferrari that was also seized.
Commissioner Carrique called the size of the drug busts “alarming.”
On May 28, police executed search warrants across Southwestern Ontario as part of Project Golden, arresting 15 individuals police allege were drug “wholesalers.”
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Project Bionic, the OPP’s first drug trafficking investigation using the dark web, resulted in the seizure of 86 packages containing drugs at a post office in Ottawa that were intended to be shipped across the country, police said, as well as the Ferrari.
Investigators say they did not find evidence that the drugs were destined to be exported to the United States.
The fentanyl seizure follows U.S. President Donald Trump’s accusations that Canada is enabling the flow of drugs across the border and fuelling a national epidemic as a justification for his tariff threats.
However, a Globe and Mail investigation found that just 0.74 pounds of fentanyl stopped at the U.S. northern border originated in Canada.
Fentanyl, a potent, synthetic opioid meant to relieve severe pain, has been at the forefront of the opioid epidemic in Canada and the U.S. Opioid overdoses are responsible for 21 deaths per day in Canada on average, according to Health Canada.
More to come