Sault Ste. Marie Police have seized $1.4 million in drugs and $124,000 in cash during a raid in the Northern Ontario city, marking the largest drug bust in the history of the police force.
Officers with the Crime Suppression Unit and Drug Enforcement Unit executed a search warrant at an apartment in the city at 6 a.m. on Oct. 21, according to an Oct. 27 police press release.
Police said the search of the apartment and suspect’s vehicle resulted in officers seizing $754,390 of fentanyl, $413,735 in methamphetamine, $274,815 worth of cocaine, and 62 tablets of oxycodone.
Investigators also confiscated $124,235 in Canadian currency, a 2023 Hyundai Sonata, cutting agents, drug packaging materials, three digital weight scales, and five cellphones.
“This is a historic drug seizure for our community,” Interim Deputy Chief of Police William Freeman said in the press release. “This is more than 10 kilograms of poison that won’t make it onto our streets to harm members of our community.”
Twenty-year-old Dejour Jones of Toronto was arrested in connection with the bust and faces several drug-related charges.
The suspect is charged with four counts of drug trafficking and one count of possession of property obtained by crime over $5,000. The accused was held in custody pending a bail hearing.
Freeman told reporters during a morning press conference on Oct. 27 that it’s not known if the suspect is connected to organized crime. He also did not say where the drugs originated from.
“What I can tell you is that the sheer amount of drugs that you see before you and the packaging involved, that this person was organized,” he said.
Freeman noted that the investigation has been ongoing for some time and included the Ontario Provincial Police’s (OPP) emergency response team and provincial operations intelligence bureau.
The latest bust more than quadruples the amount of drugs police seized in April after a five-month joint investigation with the OPP known as Project Kentucky.
The five-month project resulted in 20 arrests and 225 charges after officers confiscated $317,000 in drugs and weapons.
The same drugs found in last week’s bust also turned up in the April seizure, although in smaller quantities.
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