Two men are facing numerous drug-related charges after Halton police seized 150 lbs., of marijuana, valued at nearly $700,000, following the execution of search warrants in Oakville, Burlington, Milton and Mississauga last week.
Det. Paul Foley of the Halton Regional Police Service Integrated Guns and Gangs Unit said police had been gathering information about individuals engaged in the alleged trafficking of large amounts of marijuana in and around the regions of Halton and Peel since 2012, but noted the investigation only really took off in the spring of this year.
Foley would not say what the turning point was stating only that Halton police receive information from informants, through Crime Stoppers and from other anonymous tips.
The investigative work in this case concluded on June 25 and 26 when police executed search warrants at five locations in Halton and Peel including a residence on Ulric Crescent in Oakville, residences on Deverell Place and Agnew Crescent in Milton, a Burlington storage unit on Mainway Ave., and a residence on Mississauga’s Southdown Road.
Police seized 150 lbs., of marijuana, 1.2 lbs., of cannabis resin (hashish), a 2003 Ford Focus, a 2004 Lexus LS400, $55,000 in cash, and three prohibited weapons (a shuriken, a butterfly knife, and brass knuckles).
Police also made one arrest at 3 p.m. in the vicinity of Tremaine Road in Milton on June 25 and a second arrest at 1:30 p.m. at the Southdown Road address in Mississauga on June 26.
The estimated street value of the seized marijuana is $680,000 if sold at the gram level or $480,000 if sold at the ounce level.
The estimated value of the cannabis resin is $8,100.
On Monday, police laid dozens of bags of the captured marijuana and the seized cash and weapons on a table before members of the media at a press conference and discussed the drug bust.
“This is an abnormally large seizure as you can tell,” said Foley.
“We believe this is going to have a direct effect on the availability of marijuana on the streets of Halton.”
Foley who has been with the drug unit for nearly eight years said he has never seen this amount of marijuana seized at one time before.
“This is a significant seizure,” he said.
Julian Domenico Porretta, 29, of Milton has been charged with two counts of possession for the purpose of trafficking.
Jason Matthew Amaral, 28, of Mississauga has been charged with one count of possession for the purpose of trafficking and three counts of unauthorized possession of weapons.
Anyone with information on this or any other crime is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477) or through the web at www.haltoncrimestoppers.com or by texting ‘Tip201’ with the message to 274637 (crimes).
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