Hamilton police arrest dozens | CTV News [Video]

Hamilton Police say that they have shut down an “open air drug market” in the vicinity of a downtown laneway that appeared to be “run like a business.”

In a news release issued on Friday, police said that a five-week long investigation into the alleged operation has led to 57 people being arrested and 103 criminal charges being laid.

Police said that they also seized large amounts of illegal substances like crack cocaine, cannabis, methamphetamine and fentanyl during the arrests.

The operation was layered and ran like a business with multiple roles like lookouts, runners and drug traffickers, police said in the release.

The operation also allegedly “worked within current legislation,” by making each person carry small amounts of drugs so they would not be held in custody if they were caught, police say.

Many of the alleged drug dealing activities related to the operation took place in a nearby …