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A Quebec gang called Blood Family Mafia (BFM) involved in conflict with another Quebec biker gang called the Hells Angels. The BFM has been involved in numerous violent crimes in Eastern Quebec targeting the Hells Angels. This started because the Hells Angels wanted a 10% cut of all the BFM’s drug sales which they did not want to pay and resulted in these violent crimes against the Hells Angels. 16 people have been charged with assault, arson, drug trafficking, attempted murder, imprisonment, torture, weapon possession, and mutilation.

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18 arrested in connection to gang-related crimes in Quebec

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York Regional Police making a bust on the crime family, Figliomeni’s, which resulted in the police seizing a total of $35 million dollars worth of assets. The York Regional Police initiated a project called “Project Sindacato '' which was an 18 month project in order to get the evidence to charge members of the Figliomeni’s family. They have seized gaming machines, Rolex watches, ATMs, Ferraris and real estate. The York Regional Police has charged multiple members of the Figliomeni’s family with money laundering, defrauding the Canadian government, and participating in an organized crime group.

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Major players in Italian crime family taken down in massive bust in Ontario

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The RCMP, in British Columbia, Surrey, making a drug bust after a 18 month long investigation which resulted in arresting eight individuals, seizing hundreds of thousands of counterfeit pills and firearms.After 11 search warrants they have found that these individuals were making numerous illegal substances, which involved mixing drugs like fentanyl with prescription drugs like adderall. All the drugs seized by the RCMP have been found to be laced with a drug called ‘Carfentanil’ which is much 1000 times more potent than morphine and 100 times more toxic than fentanyl.

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RCMP makes 8 arrests and major drug bust in B.C. organized crime takedown

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All the people involved in the organized crime family, Figliomeni's and their charges.

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Some of the seized assets of the Figliomeni's family.

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The Ontario Provincial Police arresting 27 people and seizing a significant amount of money and firearms after raids on an organized crime gang. The police started a 13 month project called “Project Coyote” which investigated trafficking of firearms and drugs by drug traffickers and members of the Hells Angels. The police seized jewelry worth $150,000 dollars, numerous drugs and weapons/firearms, ammunition and more than $370,000 in cash.

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Vaughan man among 27 arrested in Ontario organized crime bust

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Joint forces Project Coyote arrests include members of Hells Angels, Red Devils outlaw motorcycle gang members, OPP say

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What was seized in the Hells Angels bust.

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The police seizing $8 million dollars worth of illegal drugs, and firearms after busting three criminal organizations. This investigation was called “Project Moffatt” which was made to bust the trafficking of fentanyl, methamphetamine and illegal weapons. They busted criminal organizations in the Peel Region, York Region and Northeast Region of Ontario. The police seized fentanyl worth approximately $3.6 million dollars, $2.4 million dollars worth of cocaine, 29 handguns, $790,000 dollars worth of property including 10 vehicles. They arrested 23 people who had over 300 criminal charges.

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Several police forces across Ontario have seized $8 million worth of illicit drugs and illegal firearms after taking down three criminal organizations, Ontario Provincial Police say.

The Ontario Provincial Police said at a press conference on Wednesday that Project Moffatt was launched to dismantle those trafficking fentanyl and methamphetamine as well as deadly weapons.

"We discovered not one but three criminal networks were responsible for selling vast quantities of illicit drugs," Det. Insp. Lee Fulford told reporters.

Fulford said one criminal network was based out of Peel Region, another was operating out of York Region, and the third was based out of a northeast region in Ontario. He also said the criminal networks had ties to street gangs.

Fourteen search warrants were executed on July 18 and 19 in multiple locations such as Toronto, Vaughan, Barrie, Brampton, Mississauga, Oakville, North Bay, Englehart and Pickering, Fulford said.

Project Moffatt was jointly led by several police forces, including the OPP, Peel Regional Police, York Regional Police, Barrie Police and Ottawa Police. There was also support from Durham Regional Police and Toronto Police.

Investigators seized 12 kilograms of fentanyl, which is equivalent to over 120,000 street-level doses, Fulford said.

"This is a staggering statistic," Fulford said.

Officers also seized 25 kilograms of cocaine, five kilograms of crystal meth, 260,000 methamphetamine tablets and 29 firearms - all compact handguns, many with overcapacity magazines, Fulford noted.

The total street value of illegal guns and illicit drugs is over $8 million. There was also $790,000 worth of property seized, including 10 vehicles, Fulford added.

Police arrested 23 people and laid 387 criminal charges.

"In addition to drug trafficking, they were also conspiring with others to procure firearms from the United States which would later be sold for profit or used to facilitate other criminal activities," Fulford said.

"A disturbing trend that we are seeing across Ontario is just how quickly firearms can be purchased in the United States, smuggled into Canada and used to commit criminal offences," Fulford said.

Meanwhile, Fulford said search warrants were also executed at Maplehurst correctional complex in Milton and the Collin's Bay institution in Kingston.

He said the reason for searching the jails was to gather "further evidence" against three of the accused who were allegedly facilitating the illegal trafficking of firearms from behind bars.

"It saddens me to think that some offenders have such blatant disregard for the law that they are willing to continue to commit crimes even while serving time in custody," Fulford said.

The OPP did mention that during "the final enforcement stage," there was an interaction with police officers in Innisfil that resulted in the province's Special Investigations Unit invoking its mandate.

The SIU is an independent agency that investigates the conduct of Ontario police officers in incidents that cause serious injury, death or alleged sexual assault.

Peel Regional Police Supt. Dawn Orr said that four of the seized guns came from their region and noted a trend in those they are arresting.

"I do want to highlight that more and more we are capturing those that are reoffending. Many of those arrested are on some type of judicial release," Orr said on Wednesday.

Barrie Police's deputy chief Wyllie Allan spoke about the impact of fentanyl in that city.

"Barrie had the third highest rate of opioid-related deaths amongst Ontario's large cities," Allan said. "More than half of the deaths were in young adults between the ages of 20 and 44 years."

$8 million worth of illicit drugs and illegal firearms seized by #OPP and partners after search warrants were executed at 14 locations across Ontario. 23 accused are facing 387 charges. https://t.co/DID24uEA0J

- OPP Highway Safety Division (@OPP_HSD) August 9, 2023

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Millions worth of illegal drugs, guns seized across 3 organized crime networks in Ontario | Globalnews.ca

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'We discovered not one but three criminal networks were responsible for selling vast quantities of illicit drugs,' said Det. Insp. Lee Fulford of the OPP.

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Article is about statistics that relate to organized crime organizations. There were 36 gang-related homicides in the GTA in 2018. Montreal came in second last year with 24 murders, and Vancouver was third with 20. Edmonton actually recorded the highest rate of gang-related homicides with 0.98 per 100,000 people, followed by Vancouver in second and then Toronto and Montreal tied for third. Provincially, there were 51 homicides either linked to or suspected to be linked to organized crime or street gangs in 2018. Statistics Canada found that 34 percent of reported human trafficking incidents in the province last year were linked to organized crime, as well as 24 per cent of all murders.

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A clearer picture of the nation's criminal underworld emerged this week, as Statistics Canada released detailed data on organized crime for the first time in a decade.

Within the report were figures that show more murders linked to gang activity and traditional organized crime happened in the Greater Toronto Area last year than anywhere else in Canada.

Investigators say the new data is a boon for police as they try to figure out which criminal organizations to target. But the local homicide numbers also point to a region that's bucking a worldwide trend as its criminal organizations clash violently in a bid for power amidst increased instability, a leading expert says.

"It's unusual compared to the trend in many other countries," said Antonio Nicaso, a Mafia expert who teaches courses on organized crime at Queen's University in Kingston, Ont.

"The tendency [elsewhere] is to use less violence and to adopt other strategies to deal with the proceeds of crime, and that's what we see around the world. We see criminal organizations are more business oriented than violent."

But in southern Ontario, these organizations are undeniably using deadly force. According to Statistics Canada, there were 36 gang-related homicides in the GTA in 2018 - a number that includes traditional Mafia, street gangs and other crime groups. That's the same number as the year before, and the most killings of this sort seen in the region stretching back to 1991.

Montreal came in second last year with 24 murders, and Vancouver was third with 20 - though when adjusting for population, Edmonton actually recorded the highest rate of gang-related homicides with 0.98 per 100,000 people, followed by Vancouver in second and then Toronto and Montreal tied for third.

Provincially, there were 51 homicides either linked to or suspected to be linked to organized crime or street gangs in 2018, Statistics Canada says, a rate that's been rising since 2014 and 2015. There were 21 such homicides in each of those years.

Couple those numbers with the attempt on the life of convicted mobster Pat Musitano in front of his lawyer's office in Mississauga in April - and a host of other mob activity nearby in Hamilton - and the picture of an unstable region becomes even clearer.

"When you fight over turf, that's what happens," Nicaso said.

He traces the surge in violence back to the 2013 death of reputed Montreal Mafia boss Vito Rizzuto.

"This is a moment of great instability in the sense that after the vacuum left by Rizzuto, there is an imbalance of power within traditional organized crime," he said.

Shootings, stabbings and beatings

As part of the Uniform Crime Reporting Survey, Statistics Canada is now highlighting the total number of incidents police services have reported between 2016 and 2018 that have been flagged as related to organized crime.

"For the first time in a long time, we have actual data that we can publish," said analyst Warren Silver.

Statistics Canada found that 34 per cent of reported human trafficking incidents in the province last year were linked to organized crime, as well as 24 per cent of all murders, Silver said.

According to the new data, the other offences most likely to be related to organized crime or gangs in Canada are laundering the proceeds of crime, smuggling and trafficking tobacco, cannabis and alcohol, and conspiracy to commit murder.

Statistics Canada says that nationwide, the vast majority of gangland murders are carried out via shootings. Last year, there were also 13 stabbings, nine beatings, and two deaths attributed to smoke inhalation and burns.

Jeff McGuire, the executive director of the Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police, welcomed the new data.

"I think the statistics will enable our intelligence gathering organizations to develop the proper priorities," McGuire said.

Low levels of police reporting

Silver told CBC News that organizations have been pushing for this data, as it can inform both resourcing and policy decisions. So why did Statistics Canada go so long without publishing it?

The Uniform Crime Reporting Survey originally started including data on organized crime back in 2005, Silver said. Police services were able to flag that specific incidents were linked to crime organizations when reporting to Statistics Canada.

But, Silver said, the organization found it was getting consistently low numbers of flagged cases - so in 2009, a joint decision between the federal agency and police services was made to suspend the collection and release of the data to improve the process.

Silver said it's difficult for police services to flag every incident that's linked to organized crime.

"It's much more labour intensive than just reporting a robbery to us," he said.

Though improved, the new data still doesn't paint a complete picture. Just over 81 per cent of the province's police forces sent data on organized crime to Statistics Canada last year, up from 78.2 per cent the year before.

Silver said the rest of the province's police services are working toward reporting as well, but until that happens, the picture remains incomplete.
adam.carter@cbc.ca

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GTA leads Canada in organized crime homicides, Statscan reveals in new gangland data | CBC News

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A clearer picture of the nation's criminal underworld emerged this week, as Statistics Canada released detailed data on organized crime for the first time in a decade.