TIMMINS -- Over the past few days, the Timmins Police Drug Unit has seized nearly $100,000 in street drugs during two separate drug busts, and most of it was varieties of fentanyl.

Timmins Police officials said a search of a Birch Street South home Thursday morning netted them about $15,000 worth of illicit drugs including purple and blue fentanyl, cocaine, crack cocaine, crystal methamphetamine and methamphetamine.

The seizure of several sawed-off shotguns and other guns is especially concerning to police and city leaders.

"One was a .410, the other being a 12-gauge as well as a .357 pellet gun,” said Marc Depatie, communications coordinator for the Timmins Police Service. "These are instruments used to intimidate other drug traffickers in the area."

“This is just a real bad guy. This doesn't happen by accident. This is probably months of work to find this stuff,” said Timmins Mayor George Pirie.

One of the biggest of 2020

The bust comes on the heels of one on Tuesday during a traffic stop on Highway 101 East. Depatie said it’s one of the Timmins Police Service’s biggest of the year, totalling close to $80,000.

"The drug enforcement officers who work here have a vibrant network of informants," he said. "They use investigative techniques proving to be highly effective.”

With Timmins having a high rate of fatal opioid overdoses (police say 22 people have died this year), Depatie said police are committed to dismantling illicit drug networks in the city.

"It's a highly effective team, highly motivated officers," he said. "Their skillsets speak for themselves. They are actively interested in receiving information by whatever means through a network of informants or the Crime Stopper line. Any information that is provided to the Timmins Police Service will be acted on immediately.”

“They're taking the stuff off the street that kills people, so this is just an excellent, excellent piece of police work. I'm very proud of our police service,” Pirie said.

Police said a 37-year-old Timmins man has been charged in connection to the Birch Street South bust, and two people from Mississauga are charged in connection with Tuesday’s traffic stop.

Depatie said they all remain in custody, awaiting bail hearings.