Seven people are facing charges after a crackdown on drugs in the ByWard Market and Lowertown areas.
Project Mitigate was a two month operation that saw officers from the Street Crime Unit identify 21 people involved in selling crack cocaine, amphetamines and opioids around supervised injection site areas.
On November 30th, police made arrests and executed a search warrant on a home on Murray Street.
As a result, some crack cocaine was seized and two toddlers were given over to the Children's Aid Society.
Ottawa Police Chief Charles Bordeleau said the force is making an effort to clean up the downtown area after they noticed an increase in drug trafficking around safe injection sites.
"It's a concern for the community," he explained. "What we're seeing as well, is some drug traffickers that are known to us but that have not traditionally been operating in that specific area."
Bordeleau noted that the increase in drug trafficking was especially true around the Shepherds of Good Hope supervised injection trailer.
As a result of Project Mitigate, police have charged:
They have each been charged with possession for the purpose of trafficking, trafficking and possession of proceeds of crime under $5,000.
The drugs seized over the last two months are still being analyzed and more arrests are expected.