Described as one of the most savage gangs in the world, MS-13 is considered to be in the embryonic stage of developing in Canada

In a series of pre-dawn raids, officers busted into 22 homes, mainly in the city's west end, and arrested 21 suspected members of Mara Salvatrucha-13 and others with ties to the organization. A Central American street gang is the target of a massive GTA-wide police operation aimed at liquidating the notoriously violent group from this city's streets, a police source said yesterday. Described as one of the most savage gangs in the world, MS-13 is considered to be in the embryonic stage of developing in Canada, the source said, and the ongoing sweeps are an attempt to prevent the gang from securing a local foothold and growing dangerous roots."It's a new gang here," he said. "We wanted to get them before they got too much out of control." While not as organized or violent here as in El Salvador, Honduras, the Chiapas state of Mexico or elsewhere throughout North and South America, where experts estimate there are 120,000 members, MS-13 has caused local trouble. Police said yesterday members are implicated in the distribution of illicit drugs and firearms and a police source said they have also been linked to several violent robberies and break and enters. After a five-month investigation, officers from Halton Region and various Toronto police units, including the gun and gangs task force and the emergency task force, executed search warrants yesterday around 6 a.m. Armed with guns and dogs, officers surrounded four homes in Peel Region, one in York, and the majority in Toronto's west end. Residents of a west end townhouse complex were awakened to a loud bang as police forced their way into a home, eventually pulling out one suspect. "I didn't know what was going on," Dave Wilson, 45, a long-time resident of the complex near Dundas St. and Scarlett Ave. said. "First, everything was quiet and then there were dogs barking and everything."
Officials remained tight-lipped yesterday about exactly who was arrested, but a police source said men and women, ranging in age from their teens to mid-30s, were taken into custody. The tally of charges continues to mount, officers said, but police have already seized a "large quantity" of cocaine, drug paraphernalia, several firearms, other prohibited weapons and vehicles, which were towed from scenes yesterday morning, and a significant amount of cash from the proceeds of crime. "They were starting their businesses here," the police source said. Officers would not give any indication of the local MS-13 chapter's size or strength, but gang expert Michael Chettleburgh estimated membership at roughly 25 people. He said he doesn't believe local gang members have set their sights on growing in Toronto, but have come to live here because of family, or because they're escaping charges in another country."Canada is perceived as a safe destination for them," said Chettleburgh, a crime prevention consultant and author. "But it's not like they are a Tim Hortons, trying to start a new Toronto franchise."Even though he isn't a huge proponent of raids as the answer to getting rid of gangs, Chettleburgh said the sweeps would probably send a political message to MS-13 members.