Police in Hamilton, Ont., say two dozen individuals have been arrested and 172 charges have been laid in an investigation right into a road gang allegedly chargeable for violent crime throughout the province.
They are saying the investigation, dubbed Venture Churchill, started in 2019 when police famous a “vital rise” in violent crime in downtown Hamilton linked to a gang self-identified because the Sizzling Mali Squad.
They allege the gang is related to homicides, drug trafficking, daytime shootings and robberies in Hamilton and neighbouring areas, together with Toronto, Waterloo and Halton.
Police say their investigation revealed the gang was linked to a Bahamas-based gang faction referred to as the Soiled South, which has allegedly smuggled and distributed unlawful firearms from the USA into the Toronto space.
They are saying the Hamilton Police Service, together with a number of different police forces, carried out 17 search warrants throughout southern Ontario on Nov. 13.
They are saying 24 individuals, together with a 17-year-old woman, are dealing with 172 charges.
Police say a 39-year-old man remains to be wished for arrest, and three of the accused are additionally wished in crimes within the Bahamas.
This report by The Canadian Press was first printed Nov. 26, 2024.
The Canadian Press
