Largest cross-border drug case in Toronto police history collapses suddenly

Drugs allegedly seized as part of Project Brisa are presented at a Toronto police news conference on June 22, 2021.

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With fanfare that included tables piled high with $61 million in seized cocaine and crystal meth and a backdrop of tractor trailers parked for effect, then-Toronto police Chief James Ramer announced the results of the largest international drug takedown the city had ever seen.

“Let me be clear: The size and scope of this investigation in terms of drugs seized and potential harm caused has never been seen before in the history of our service,” Ramer told reporters on a sunny June 2021 day, announcing 20 people were facing charges after a months-long probe that spanned Canada, the U.S. and reached down to Mexico.

It was, Ramer said, the first time the force had conducted an outdoor media conference in order to “display the magnitude of what was seized,” including 444 kilograms of cocaine, 300 oxycodone pills and nearly $1 million Canadian currency.

With much less fanfare in a downtown court on Monday, the investigation dubbed “Project Brisa” — which allegedly found tractor-trailers transporting massive quantities of drugs through hidden compartments — came to a screeching halt.

All Project Brisa criminal charges that were still before the court were stayed on Monday, a federal prosecutor connected to the case confirmed to the Star.

It wasn’t immediately clear why, or exactly how many of the original 182 charges were still before the court as of Monday. Crown prosecutors are not required to provide reasons when they decide not to proceed with a case and none were provided in court.

Toronto police did not provide a comment by deadline.

Toronto lawyer Greg Lafontaine, one of the defence lawyers representing clients arrested in the project, said in a written statement to the Star Monday that the prosecution “has been fraught with procedural problems” but did not elaborate.

“A few months ago, my sense was that it should be terminated. The Crown has made the correct decision to put an end to this case,” Lafontaine said.

Two other lawyers — representing accused people facing more than a dozen charges combined — confirmed all charges had been dropped against their clients.

“The conclusion of these charges marks the end of a long, difficult and hard-fought journey for my client and his family. He has maintained his innocence from the outset and was ready for a prolonged battle for freedom,” said lawyer Ravin Pillay.

“These cases, as they unfold, and as defence lawyers probe (them), sometimes issues arise,” said Brian Crothers, who said his client had always maintained his innocence.

The case had centred on the alleged crackdown on a sophisticated network of tractor-trailers police said were capable of transporting up to 100 kilograms of drugs in a single trip — from Mexico, through California and up into Canada.

The transport of vast quantities of drugs was possible, police said, thanks to the installation of hidden hydraulic traps inside the trailers that couldn’t be detected by radar.

Sonya Shikhman, a criminal defence lawyer who was not involved in the case but has defended clients facing drug trafficking offences, cautioned that a number of factors could be at play in the Crown’s decision to stay the charges.

Speaking generally, she said that in complex investigations the Crown might choose to “hold their cards back” so as to not jeopardize “some other ongoing investigation against some bigger players.”

She also noted that the Project Brisa investigators were nonetheless successful in taking a significant quantity of drugs out of circulation.

In all, the massive project lasted seven months, saw the execution of 35 search warrants all across Canada and involved scores of outside agencies including the Ontario Provincial Police, United States Drug Enforcement Agency and Canada Border Services Agency.

At the time the arrests were announced, Ramer had praised not only the work of other forces and agencies but the Toronto police drug squad and Asian organized crime task force.

“All were essential to the success of the operation,” Ramer said at the time.

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