Gang sweep nets 125 arrests in Toronto

TORONTO, April 1 (UPI) -- At least 125 people were arrested Wednesday in and around Toronto as more than 1,000 police officers from Canada and the United States targeted gang members.

Toronto Police Chief Bill Blair told a news conference the investigation began last summer and culminated with pre-dawn raids that included coordinated battering ram entries into homes, CITY TV reported.

"It is the culmination of a complex and an obviously highly successful organized crime investigation which, over many months, has identified suspects and collected evidence not only of street gang violent criminal activity but also the persons and organizations responsible for supplying the guns and the drugs that had resulted in so much of that violence in our cities," Blair told reporters.

The majority of the raids were in Toronto's east end but also included three regions north, east and west of Toronto, the report said. Police searched 100 homes and 61 vehicles in the sweep, Blair said.

An array of drugs, including 42 pounds of cocaine, and weapons were seized in the sweep, the report said.