WIIKWEMKOONG—A series of massive raids targeting the drug trade of the Toronto-based gang the Driftwood Crips reached across Ontario and into the North, with some of the search warrants and arrests reaching even onto Manitoulin Island.
Officers from a tri-force task force that included the Wikwemikong Tribal Police, with assistance from the UCCM Anishnaabe Tribal Police and the OPP Emergency Response Team, executed a warrant in Wiikwemkoong that led to the discovery of a large quantity of prescription medicine, cocaine and equipment related to the drug trade.
As a result, one individual has been arrested, a warrant has been issued for a second individual that the police are still searching for and two peripheral individuals were caught up in the sweep.
The investigation and arrests attest to a wide crime network of related to gangs stretching into every corner of the province.
“We are often asked if something is gang-related,” noted Wikwemikong Tribal Police Sergeant Chris Cooper. “But how do you really know? This time there are definite links to the Driftwood Crips and to the Hells Angels. It’s not a guess anymore.”
Project Kronic is the third large police operation targeting the Driftwood Crips and involved more than 800 police officers from 20 police services across the province, leading to more than 660 charges and 120 people being accused of charges related to an alleged criminal organization.
Charges across the province range from drug trafficking to attempted murder, trafficking in firearms as well as kidnapping conspiracies.
There were 33 suspects swept up in raids conducted in Sudbury and a combined 141 charges were laid in that community. A number of the charges laid in Project Kronic relate to the spread of fentanyl, with 193 fentanyl patches and 194 pills seized in the raids across the province.
The Driftwood Crips are described as one of Toronto’s oldest criminal gangs with a highly organized command structure. One of those individuals swept up in the Sudbury raids is described as a member of the Hells Angels.
Charged with conspiracy to traffic cocaine contrary to section 465(1)(C) of the Criminal Code is a 38-year-old female of Wiikwemkoong.
