FREDERICTON - Eighteen people have been arrested after a two-year investigation disrupted a major drug operation in the Maritimes and Ontario.
Operation Jellybean culminated with raids Thursday at seven homes and six businesses in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Ontario.
All of the individuals have been released, but RCMP Cpl. Gilles Blinn said drug charges are pending.
Police seized a quantity of cocaine, marijuana and prescription drugs but their largest haul was anabolic steroids.
"It started off as, and remained throughout, a cocaine investigation,'' said Staff Sgt. Ed MacEachern.
But the investigation, which started in Fredericton, uncovered so much more.
Sgt. Dan Quirion, supervisor of the Integrated Proceeds of Crime Unit at RCMP headquarters in Fredericton, said the trafficking in steroids from Ontario was significant, with as much as $600,000 per year sold and distributed throughout the Atlantic region.
Police confiscated $350,000 in cash, several vehicles, two custom motorcycles, an ATV, a boat and several restricted firearms.
Police say one of the homes raided on the edge of Fredericton may have been used as a "pumphouse,'' which means it was used solely for the purpose of selling drugs.
"The building was heavily fortified ... even on the inside,'' said Blinn.
The investigation also took police to Saint John, N.B., Moncton, N.B., Miramichi, N.B., Sydney, N.S., Glace Bay, N.S., and Burlington, Ont.
Investigators said all the arrests occurred without incident, despite the large number of firearms recovered.
"I would say in the last 15 years or so, in all the drug searches that we do, we encounter firearms, we encounter the illegal storage of firearms, so it seems to be a common trend now,'' said Quirion.
One of the seized vehicles had a window sticker that read:"Protected by Smith&Wesson,'' referring to the U.S. firearms maker.
As of Friday, no court dates had been set.
A separate investigation is expected to lead to charges of money laundering and charges related to gains from the proceeds of crime.
