Nine­teen peo­ple, in­clud­ing a com­pa­ny di­rec­tor, are ex­pect­ed to be ques­tioned af­ter they were de­tained dur­ing a ma­jor po­lice raid on an il­le­gal quar­ry­ing site along Tumpuna Road South, Ari­ma, ear­ly yes­ter­day.

Po­lice said the op­er­a­tion fol­lowed a year of sur­veil­lance, in­tel­li­gence gath­er­ing, and in­ves­ti­ga­tions in­to the il­lic­it trade.

The ex­er­cise, which be­gan just af­ter 5 am, was led by of­fi­cers of the Mul­ti-Agency Task Force (MATF), sup­port­ed by the Na­tion­al Spe­cial Op­er­a­tions Unit (NSOU), the Mul­ti-Op­er­a­tional Po­lice Squad (MOPS), and the Crim­i­nal In­ves­ti­ga­tions De­part­ment (CID).