Biggest-ever seizure of illegal guns made by cops in Mississauga, Brampton: police

Two days after Peel’s police chief voiced concern over gun violence being at an all-time high in Mississauga and Brampton, investigators say they’ve made the largest-ever seizure of illegal guns in the region.

Peel Regional Police have provided no details of their “major firearms investigation,” dubbed Project Sledgehammer, saying only that it represents the “largest-ever seizure of illegal firearms” in the force’s history.

Details will be provided at a press conference scheduled to take place Monday at 1 p.m. at a Peel police facility in Mississauga, police said in a brief media advisory.

Peel police Chief Nishan Duraiappah, who in a post to social media on Wednesday expressed growing concern over a rise in the number of illegal guns pouring into Mississauga and Brampton and the associated violence, will speak at Monday’s media gathering.

Peel Regional Police Chief Nishan Duraiappah. (Photo: Peel Regional Police)

He’ll be joined by Deputy Chief Nick Milinovich and Det. Michael Baker, of the force’s Specialized Enforcement Bureau.

In a news release on Wednesday that accompanied the police chief’s two-minute video message (see below), police said there were 46 Peel shootings in July and August alone in which 19 people were injured. One person was killed in the summer gun violence.

Duraiappah also pointed out that officers in his ranks seize, on average, one illegal gun every 36 hours.

The region’s highest-ranking police officer added that in those 46 summer shootings, 28 people were arrested and 51 guns seized, “40 of which were illegal firearms in the hands of criminals.”

In July, a joint-forces investigation headed up by Peel police led to the seizure of 71 illegal guns — 67 handguns, four assault-style rifles — in what at that time was the largest-ever such bust in Peel.

Some $1 million in cocaine and fentanyl in addition to $25,000 in cash were also part of that bust.

Police said at the time those guns were smuggled into Canada from the U.S. and believed to be destined for use in home invasions, carjackings and other violent crimes in Mississauga, Brampton and across the GTA.

(Cover photo: Peel Regional Police. Gun shown is not related to this investigation)