'Organized crime': Police raids in Oakville, Toronto, Hamilton and Thorold lead to more than 470 kg of drugs and multiple guns

A 37-year-old Oakville woman is among six people facing drugs and weapons charges in a massive drug trafficking investigation.

Halton police allege between May 4 and 5, Halton, Hamilton, Peel and OPP police forces concluded Project Spectre" with the execution of Controlled Drugs and Substances Act search warrants.

Warrants were executed in Toronto (five locations), Hamilton (two locations), Oakville and Thorold.

Five individuals were taken into custody and a sixth was arrested on May 16, 2023.

At the Thorold location, investigators located and dismantled an active psilocybin production site, police said. As a result of this investigation, police say they have seized:

4.5 kilograms of cocaine

4 kilograms of MDMA (ecstasy)

500 grams of fentanyl

272 kilograms of packaged cannabis edibles

70 kilograms of packaged marijuana

1.9 kilograms of packaged psilocybin

82 kilograms of psilocybin in various stages of growth

581 grams of hashish

195 grams of ketamine

196 oxycodone and hydromorphone pills

92 grams of cathinone (bath salts)

34 kilograms of cutting agents

$246,000 in Canadian currency

The estimated wholesale value of items seized is upwards of $1 million, police said.

Drugs Seized - Media Release May 2023 from Halton Police on Vimeo.

Police say firearm seized include a Ruger (with obliterated serial number), Glock SM, Taurus G3C, Walther PK, Keltec Carbine with folding stock, along with 50-round high-capacity drum magazine.

A 37-year-old Oakville woman, a 37-year-old Hamilton man, three Toronto men, aged 38, 39 and 35, and a 38-year-old Ancaster man, are charged. None of the allegations have been tested in court.

Police allege two of the accused were on weapon prohibition orders with conditions not to possess any weapons.

Like the many projects before it, Project Spectre sends a clear, determined, committed message to those organized crime members that think they can operate within our borders with impunity; it is only a matter of time before you are held accountable," Halton Insp. Dave Costantini, Regional Investigative Services, said in a statement, later adding these groups don't consider ramification such as fatal overdoses when they are selling toxic, unregulated drugs."