Approximately 120 people face about 660 charges in several different jurisdictions — including Greater Sudbury — following an operation targeting an alleged street gang.
Project Kronic, an operation led by the Toronto Police Service with assistance from the Greater Sudbury Police and the York Regional Police, was executed by more than 800 officers in six cities in the early hours of Thursday morning.
The operation targeted a gang known as the Driftwood Crips which is alleged to have cells operating in communities across Ontario, Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia — including drug trafficking activities in Greater Sudbury.
As a result of the operation, what police call a major distributor of fentanyl and cocaine in Sudbury was arrested.
"A member of the Driftwood Crips was supplying a large quantity of fentanyl and cocaine to a network of dealers in the Sudbury area, including a member of Hell's Angels," said Toronto police chief Mark Saunders during a noon-hour press conference.
The Toronto Police Integrated Gun and Gang Task Force led the operation targeting the Driftwood Crips, which police say are modeled after the widespread Crips gang, which got its start in Los Angeles in the late 1960s, according to police.
Their alleged criminal activities include homicides, shootings, kidnappings, and trafficking of heroin, methamphetamine, cocaine, marijuana and fentanyl.
Toronto Police Chief Mark Saunders said the operation put a major dent into the Toronto-based street gang and its affiliates in Ontario and western Canada.
Sudbury.com will continue to update this story as more details emerge.
-with files from Canadian Press