OTTAWA (CBC) - More than 300 police officers raided Mohawk territories in Quebec, eastern Ontario and New York state on Wednesday morning, arresting suspects in a drug-smuggling ring, police said. The raids were conducted by provincial police, RCMP, Mohawk Peace Keepers, and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.

Police arrested 30 people and charged them with offences including gangsterism, drug trafficking and conspiracy, said Insp. Lino Maurizio of the Quebec provincial police.

Police seized drugs, cash and luxury vehicles along with a small arsenal, including assault rifles and a grenade launcher, he said.

"The operation was targeting a criminal organization that was involved in traffic and exportation of drugs toward the United States," said RCMP Const. Charles Vallée.

Vallée said the drug ring was based on the Kahnawake Mohawk reserve just south of Montreal.

Police allege the suspects were smuggling marijuana across the border into the U.S.

Arrests were made in Montreal, Kahnawake, Kanesatake, and on the Akwesasne territory, which spans the borders between Quebec, Ontario and New York near Cornwall, Ont.

Vallée said the arrests followed an investigation instigated by the Aboriginal Combined Forces Special Investigation Unit.

"The involvement of the Kahnawake Mohawk Peace Keepers has played a key role in the operation," he said.

Gordon McGregor, president of Quebec's association of aboriginal community police chiefs, said a flood of drugs and money has caused serious harm to native communities.

"Imagine a little community when large amounts of money and drugs [are] coming in like that, the trouble that comes with it," said McGregor.

"For us, our priority is drugs. Drug trafficking causes the biggest social problem in our communities."

Maurizio said some of the drugs were grown in the Châteauguay and Mascouche regions surrounding Montreal.

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