OPP say massive cocaine seizure is largest in its history
Posted Aug 28, 2017 10:51:23 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Ontario provincial police say they have made the largest drug seizure in the force’s history as part of an international investigation into a cocaine smuggling ring.
The OPP say three Toronto-area men were responsible for allegedly importing more than 1,000 kilograms of pure cocaine into Canada from Argentina.
The value of the seizure is estimated to be worth $60 million, with a street value of around $250 million.
OPP Commissioner Vince Hawkes said the arrests have put a big dent in organized crime.
“The distribution and sales cycle would see this cocaine cut many times for street-level dealers with untold dangerous and potentially lethal additives for higher resale value,” Hawkes said.
He said the cocaine could have been mixed with the deadly drug fentanyl before hitting the street for resale.
They say the investigation – dubbed “Project Hope” – was conducted with the Peel police, Canada Border Services Agency and the United States Drug Enforcement Agency, among other organizations.
Police allege the cocaine was transported in shipping containers to Montreal, and then sent to Ontario.
They say they worked with border guards and found various caches of cocaine at a CBSA warehouse, in the Port of Montreal and in Stoney Creek, Ont., near Hamilton.
Luis Enrique Karim-Altamirano, 52, from Vaughan; Mauricio Antonio Medina-Gatica, 36, from Brampton; and Iban Orozco-Lomeli, 42, from Toronto, were charged with various drug trafficking offences on May 1.
Karim-Altamirano remains in custody pending a bail hearing on Wednesday. Medina-Gatica and Orozco-Lomeli have been released on bail.
