Ontario Carjacking Task Force Says Stolen Vehicles Recovered, More Arrests Made

TORONTO — A criminal ring has been busted and eight people are facing dozens of carjacking, robbery and firearms charges, Ontario Provincial Police said Tuesday as they announced the results of an investigation that stemmed from a group of provincial work on car theft.

The OPP said the investigation began in March after the task force, run in conjunction with Toronto police, identified a ring believed to be behind violent car thefts, home invasions and other non-violent car thefts.

During the ensuing investigation, dubbed Project Titanium, the OPP said officers recovered 23 stolen vehicles.

“What is alarming about this investigation is that the vehicle thefts were not simply carried out in the middle of the night on an unoccupied target vehicle; many of the thefts involved violence,” said Det. insp. Scott Wade.

Police said officers executed search warrants in Peel Region and Toronto last week, seizing car theft tools, stolen vehicle parts and fraudulent photo IDs.

Seven people aged between 19 and 23, as well as a 56-year-old man, face more than 100 charges. Arrest warrants were issued for two of these people.

Police said the provincial Joint Motor Vehicle Task Force made 124 arrests and recovered 177 stolen vehicles between September 2023 and March 2024.

Of those caught by the task force, 44 percent were out on bond, Deputy Chief Robert Johnson said. Twenty-six of the 124 people arrested were also under the age of 18.

Johnson said car theft was a big “revenue generator” for organized crime, describing it as a “low-risk, high-profit” enterprise.

“It’s a lucrative business fueled by organized crime and there’s a lot of money to be made relatively quickly,” he said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published on June 25, 2024.

The Canadian Press