Police in Canada and the United States say they have smashed a drug ring that had been supplying the U.S. with about 15 per cent of the drug ecstasy.

In Canada, 29 people were arrested in Ottawa, including two in Montreal, and one in Toronto. A further eight arrests were made in Toronto and three additional arrest warrants have been issued.

Those arrested here were among 170 people charged in both countries.

Police wheel away 125 marijuana plants after a morning drug sweep across Ottawa. (CP photo)

Police say the ring was also involved in growing marijuana in Ottawa and Toronto.

In all, there were three separate operations to bust the ring. Canadian police went after operations in Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal that produced ecstasy pills and smuggled them to the United States, where they were sold.

U.S. deputy attorney general James Comey called the joint Canadian-American operation "significant."

James Comey

"There's no doubt this organization's resources were deep. But ours in law enforcement are deeper. And our commitment is greater," he said.

Police said one suspect who is from China, but lives in Toronto, ran a massive organization importing the powder used to make ecstasy from the Netherlands. He then pressed millions of pills, which were sent over the border to the U.S. and sold on the street.

A woman from Vietnam is alleged to have run a massive money laundering operation out of Ottawa.

"From their Canadian headquarters, this illegal organization paraded ecstasy death pills, masqueraded as harmless fun..., and distributed them to the tune of about a million pills a month over the past five years," said Karen Tandy, the director of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency.

Studies have shown ecstasy use can cause brain damage. It can also kill if taken in excessive amounts.

Tandy described the operation as a major cartel that sold about $400 million worth of ecstasy on the streets of major U.S. cities.

In addition, police say, the "cartel" made millions more selling marijuana. At least 27 pot growing operations were shut down and millions of dollars were seized from the proceeds of the sales.

"I believe the most significant aspect of today's operation is that in a single wave of co-ordinated arrests, Canadian and U.S. law enforcement have wiped out a whole network of criminal organizations," said Raf Souccar, who heads the RCMP drug and organized crime unit.