'Instruments of death and destruction': London Police help take down major guns and drugs network

A nearly ten-months long investigation by multiple Ontario police services has resulted in more than 400 charges laid on a group of 22 individuals accused of smuggling guns and drugs over the Canadian-U.S. border.

"These firearms are invariably instruments of death and destruction, devastating families and shattering communities," said London Deputy Police Chief Stu Betts at a news conference Wednesday. The London Police Service was part of a joint forces operation, dubbed Project Monarch, which dismantled a major trafficking network that stretched across Ontario and into the United States.

The effort began in London in October 2021 according to York Regional Police Insp. Ahmad Salhia. "As the investigation began to evolve we identified a suspect in the London area who we believe was involved in illicitly importing firearms into Canada from the United States."

According to police, it then spread to include allegations of a gun smuggling ring where firearms were brought across the Canada-U.S. border through Walpole Island First Nation land west of Wallaceburg, Ont.

Walpole Island First Nation Chief, Charles Sampson (Bryan Bicknell/CTV News London)Officers from the Ontario Provincial Police, London police, York police, and Peel police said they built their case and then raided 22 homes and two businesses on July 28.

Twenty-seven hand guns, all believed to be from the U.S., and a quantity of drugs, including nine kilograms of cocaine, 1.9 kilograms of fentanyl and 20,000 Xanax pills were allegedly found, and 22 people were taken into custody.

Salhia said some of the fentanyl was pressed "to appear like candy – a car a butterfly or a number of other things."

"If someone was to consume such an item “the outcome would most certainly be fatal," he said.

Officers also seized 17 over-capacity magazines for the handguns and 300 rounds of ammunition.

The accused parties range in age from their 20s to 67-years-old, police said. Combined they are facing more than 400 criminal code offences.

An analysis found 20 of the guns seized were from the U.S., including places such as Florida, Ohio and Michigan.

"We believe that the balance of those firearms, the seven remaining, will also be traced to the U.S.," Salhia said.

Salhia said, at its narrowest point, the St. Clair River that separates Walpole Island First Nation from Port Huron, Michigan, is less than one kilometre wide.

He would not say what method was used to get the guns across the river, but added that an incident involving guns attached to a drone found in nearby Lambton County in late April is not related to this investigation.

Walpole Island First Nation Chief Charles Sampson said his police force is "terribly underfund," and simply doesn’t have the resources to effectively police such activity.

"We only have nine to eleven officers in the field and we have to protect an international border between Canada and the United States," he said. "We have one boat, but we need a whole marine division to do our job effectively."

He urged the provincial and federal governments to give his community more money to beef up its law enforcement capabilities.

"We desperately need adequate funding to get this job done."