Police say they’ve frozen two more properties in the Ottawa area related to the dismantling of an alleged drug trafficking network in 2014.
Police announced in January 2014 that nine men were facing about 75 charges after officers seized 24.5 kilograms of cocaine, 10 vehicles, and firearms over the course of two-year investigation dubbed Project Anarchy.
RCMP said in a release Thursday that the properties housing a restaurant in Ottawa and a bar in Gatineau have been frozen under a related financial crime investigation called Project Attar.
The tenants of those properties say they have nothing to do with the investigation.
Police said the two latest properties are worth about $1.4 million and that an Ottawa property frozen in 2014 is worth about $1.1 million.
RCMP spokeswoman Sgt. Penny Hermann said an attempt to seize the properties as proceeds of crime will be made pending the outcome of the trials of those charged under Project Anarchy.
Ronald Lauzon, the acting officer in charge of the RCMP Ottawa detachment, said Project Attar was designed to further disrupt and dismantle the alleged drug trafficking network financially.
“Organized crime groups involved in drug trafficking are creative in their strategies to evade law enforcement and in the concealing of their illicit funds,” Lauzon said.
