Toronto police on Tuesday showed off 80 of the 173 firearms seized in Canada and the United States as part of a cross-border firearm trafficking investigation titled “Project Moneypenny.”
“A seizure of this size is definitely going to save lives on the streets of the GTA and elsewhere, and is the result of the dedicated work of many in the Toronto Police Service and our partners with us in the room today,” Toronto Police Superintendent Steve Watts said.
Project Moneypenny was an operation launched by the Toronto Police Service’s Integrated Gun & Gang Task Force in March of last year that probed into the illegal smuggling network of firearms into Ontario.
Police arrested 42 people, who are facing a total of 422 criminal charges.
Among the guns on display were Glock handguns and semi-automatic assault rifles, as well as cocaine, fentanyl, body armour, and ammunition including overcapacity magazines which hold an extra ten rounds.
Toronto Police Superintendent Steve Watts speaking at Tuesday press conference. Photo credit: Drew Chambers & Toronto Police Service
Watts said this operation has put a significant dent into the flow of firearms being smuggled into the country.
“One firearm, one round results in the death of a person on our streets. This is a very significant seizure,” he said.
The investigation involved collaboration with other officers across the GTA along with police from Florida, Ohio and Arizona, where the majority of the weapons seized came from.
York Regional Deputy Police Chief Alvaro Almeida said it’s not a shock to him that the majority of the weapons seized in Canada came from the United States.
“The only way to combat this problem is by working together,” Almeida said.
Many of the firearms put on display were legally purchased in the United States and smuggled into Canada.
Asked what legislation he’d like to see the Canadian federal government implement to deter the trafficking of firearms into Canada, Watts echoed Almeida’s comments about the need for more cross-border investigations.
“The way we combat this is through collaborative operations such as this one. That’s the way you operationally and actually deter the flow of trafficking. It’s not through written legislation,” Watts said.