Cash, cars, nearly 300 kg of pot seized in B.C., Ontario

An organized crime investigation has led to the seizure of cash, cars and nearly 300 kilograms of marijuana, after police conducted a series of raids in and around metropolitan Toronto and Vancouver.

The police raids were carried out Tuesday, the culmination of a seven-month investigation known as Project Lie-See.

Project Lie-See was carried out by the joint-unit Asian Organized Crime Task Force and British Columbia’s Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit.

A press release describing the investigation says that police were targeting "the drug-trafficking and money-laundering activities of criminal organizations."

In total, police report seizing eight cars, about $660,000 in cash and nearly 300 kilograms of dried marijuana.

Ten people are now facing charges, eight of whom were arrested in Toronto. Two of the accused were arrested in British Columbia.

Eight of the accused are charged with trafficking in a controlled substance, laundering the proceeds of crime, conspiracy to commit an indictable offence, possession of the proceeds of crime and participating in a criminal organization. Two of those accused are further charged with directing a person to commit an offence for a criminal organization.

The remaining two accused are both charged with possession of a controlled substance for the purpose of trafficking.

The accused parties in Toronto were due to appear in court on Wednesday. The two arrested in British Columbia are expected to be in court Friday.