Canadian police on Thursday launched massive raids on biker and street gang groups involved in cocaine trafficking in the eastern part of the country, arresting at least 40 suspects, Xinhua reported.
The raids, dubbed "Operation Axe," were carried out across Quebec and Ontario provinces and involved 700 officers from provincial and federal police services.
Montreal police Sgt. Ian Lafreniere told CTV television that the raids targeted "mainly leaders as opposed to street-level drug dealers."
The operation was the culmination of several years of police investigations that began in January 2006.
In 2001, 1,700 police officers carried out another major operation against biker gangs, shaking the structure of some of Quebec's most infamous gangs.
Thursday's operation was intended to once again cripple the criminal networks, which have been restructured in recent years.
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