Police in Ottawa area arrest 16 in connection with wholesale drug trafficking

A nine-month investigation has led to 16 arrests and 138 criminal charges, mainly drug-trafficking counts, in eastern Ontario and Quebec, police say.

The Ontario Provincial Police say they executed 12 search warrants in Ottawa as well as Gatineau and Luskville, Que., last Thursday with help from the Surete du Quebec.

Police say they were targeting wholesale drug sellers linked with criminal networks in Ontario, including outlaw motorcycle gangs, as well as Ottawa and Quebec-based criminal organizations supplying drugs to mid-level traffickers and street gangs.

In the raids police say they seized 11.59 kilograms of cocaine, 96 kilograms of illegal cannabis, about 40,000 methamphetamine pills as well as $227,105 in cash and several firearms.

Police say that upon arrest, six of the accused were held in custody and the remainder were released with conditions.

They are expected to appear at an Ontario Court of Justice in Ottawa on various dates.