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Toronto police arrest 60 suspected drug gangsters

Police arrested some 60 suspected gang members in a sting operation in and around Toronto on Wednesday.

The arrests were the culmination of a year-long investigation and drugs that would be valued at C$1 million (US$937,500) if sold on the street were seized, Toronto police chief Bill Blair said.

"The seizure of these drugs and the arrest of those responsible for the importation and trafficking of them, we hope, will deal a significant blow to the source of misery in so many of our most vulnerable neighborhoods," he said.

The police dragnet captured leaders of the violent "Driftwood Crips" drug gang, Blair said.

"The trafficking of illicit drugs is the primary source of income for this criminal enterprise." he said.

"Our city is safer today as a result of the work that has been done today," said Blair, adding that "approximately 60 persons have been arrested and processed so far."

Blair hoped that cracking this ring would undermine the complicity of silence from taking root in neighborhoods where gangs operate.

"Today, we have one less street gang terrorizing the neighbors in the city of Toronto," Blair said.

He said that police seized over 30kg of cocaine and 9kg of hash oil.

"The estimated street value of the drugs seized in this investigation is well in excess of C$1 million," had the drugs been sold in retail amounts, he said.

Toronto is one of the most violent cities in Canada. Last week, a midday firefight killed a 19-year-old man and wounded three others.

Last month, a youth of 15 died of gunshots in a Toronto school.

So far this year, 16 people died of gunshots in Toronto and 53 were wounded in the region. Last year, 12 persons died of gunshots in Toronto.
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