St. Thomas police have made the largest drug seizure in the city's history, netting nearly half a million dollars worth of illicit substances including crystal meth and purple fentanyl.
Officers arrested 19 people, ranging in age from 26 to 59, during the six-month investigation. The suspects face nearly 100 drug and weapons-related charges, including trafficking a controlled substance, possession for the purpose of trafficking, and carrying a concealed weapon.
Drugs, weapons, and cash seized by St. Thomas police.
Over four kilograms of crystal methamphetamine, 56 grams of cocaine, and over 60 grams each of purple fentanyl and powered fentanyl were seized. Officers also turned up a quantity of hydromorphone capsules, morphine capsules, hash oil, Dilaudid capsules, and Ritalin capsules. It's estimated the drugs are worth a combined $476,304.
Police also seized several weapons including four machetes, an airsoft gun, scales, and $11,500 in cash.
"Today we are proud of our skilled and talented staff who have worked together, with the assistance of partner agencies, to make this the largest drug seizure in the history of St. Thomas and the largest fentanyl seizure in this region," said Police Chief Chris Herridge.
Arrest warrants are being sought for two additional people, a 41-year-old St. Thomas woman and a 40-year-old London woman, wanted in relation to the lengthy drug investigation.
Police invested $30,000 in the project, which began in March of this year following months of intelligence gathering.
"We figured we were at a spot were we could start a project to eliminate this city of drugs and property crime," said Herridge. "Our initial focus was on drug users in the downtown core. We had received information and complaints from members of downtown businesses, through Crime Stoppers, surveys and social media that there were some crime issues pertinent to drugs and property in St. Thomas and it was time to address it and clean up our downtown."
The initiative came as criminal charges in the city increased 72 per cent and property crime jumped 89 per cent over the same time period last year.
"Crystal meth, fentanyl are all dangerous drugs in this city and not only our city but across Ontario. Our goal is to get these addictive and dangerous drugs off the street, find out who is selling the drugs and prosecute them to the fullest extent of the law," said Herridge. "This initiative is not over and continued success depends on assistance from our community. We need the community's help in letting us know who is selling drugs and who is making money as a result because these drugs do not come into the city on their own. It is through organized crime."
Purple fentanyl
Purple fentanyl is often a deadly mixture of heroin and fentanyl or carfentanil. Exposure to even a small amount can be fatal. According to figures from Health Canada, there were 3,987 apparent opioid-related deaths in the country last year, up from the 2,458 reported in 2016.
"Most of the drugs that come in like crystal methamphetamine, fentanyl powder come from larger cities, our's being London," said Detective Constable Frank Boyes of the St. Thomas street crime unit. "We did work our way into the London drug supply as well and that is where a large portion of the crystal methamphetamine and purple fentanyl powder came from. Most of it destined for St. Thomas."