42 Arrested, 173 Guns Seized in Disruption of Cross-Border Firearms Trafficking: Toronto Police

A Toronto Police Service (TPS) logo is seen at TPS headquarters in Toronto on Aug. 9, 2019. (The Canadian Press/Christopher Katsarov)

The Toronto police said 42 individuals have been arrested and over 400 criminal charges were laid as a result of a yearlong investigation into a major cross-border firearms trafficking scheme.

The police operation, dubbed Project Moneypenny, saw the seizure of 173 firearms, alongside ammunition and roughly $184,000 in proceeds of crime, from Canada and the United States, according to a press release from the Toronto Police Service (TPS) issued on April 11.

Among the 173 firearms, 87 handguns were seized in Chicago in a vehicle driven by a resident from Arizona and bound for Canada. The guns were covered in bubble wrap to avoid damage, then wrapped in “holiday paper” to avoid detection by border security, TPS Deputy Police Chief Robert Johnson told reporters at a press conference on April 11.

“Through Project Moneypenny, police are holding organized criminals accountable for putting the well-being and safety of our communities, our friends, and our families at risk,” he said.

TPS Superintendent Steven Watts said the firearms could be traced to a number of U.S. states, but they came primarily from Ohio, Arizona, and Florida. He noted that the traffickers employed various smuggling techniques to bring the firearms into Ontario.

Apart from guns, police also seized illicit narcotics, including roughly 1.5 kilograms of fentanyl with a street value of about $300,000, and about 1.8 kilograms of cocaine with a street value of approximately $190,000.

Project Moneypenny was initiated in March 2022 by the TPS’s Integrated Gun & Gang Task Force with the assistance of the Toronto Drug Squad and Intelligence Services. In July 2022, the York Regional Police Guns, Gangs, and Drug Enforcement Unit also launched another investigation, dubbed Project Zorro. In September 2022, the two projects were combined to maximize the investigation outcome with assistance and funding from Criminal Intelligence Services Ontario.

During the initial phases of both projects, undercover officers successfully purchased quantities of fentanyl, cocaine, and 25 firearms from identified persons, according to the TPS release. The firearms mostly came from the United States.

The police subsequently executed 49 search warrants between November 2022 and March 2023 in Toronto, Peel Region, and Durham Region, leading to the arrest of the 42 people.

A complete list of the individuals arrested and their charges were provided in the press release. The suspects vary in age, ranging from 17 to 43, though the age of one of the three minors wasn’t made public.

“It’s always concerning when our young persons are involved. Obviously, whether they’re victims or perpetrators,” Watt said.

The investigation was funded by the Criminal Intelligence Services Ontario, and supported by a number of law enforcement agencies in Canada and the United States, including the Ontario Provincial Police, the Durham Regional Police Service, the Canada Border Services Agency, and the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, according to the press release.