Toronto Police Arrest Six in Major Armed Robbery Investigation, Around $1 Million in Stolen Property Recovered

Toronto police has shared the results of a major armed robbery investigation that has resulted in the arrest of six people and the recovery of nearly $1 million in stolen property. The robberies have “all the earmarks of an organized crime group,” according to Toronto police. The criminal activities vehicle thefts, carjackings, currency exchange robberies, along with pharmacy robberies.

At a news conference, Toronto police shared that as part of the operation called Project Repeater, a total of six people have been arrested and charged for various crimes. The police are investigating seven cases of carjackings, two motor vehicle thefts, two currency exchange robberies, and 23 pharmacy robberies. The police shared that these have “all the earmarks of an organized crime group.”

The stolen cars included luxury vehicles like Land Rovers and Porsches. Stolen luxury cars are typically shipped overseas in industrial containers to re-sell. The TPS Hold Up Squad, however, was able to recover some of the stolen vehicles “before they got that far” through GPS tracking. Till now, GTA police has recovered vehicles worth over $980,000 and two stolen vehicles are still outstanding.

Four people were arrested during the investigation and two, who were already behind bars, had additional charges laid on them. As per the police, the four accused traveled around GTA in stolen vehicles to commit these robberies. The suspects were also armed with handguns in most cases and in others, they used a knife or physical violence to intimidate victims.

The four accused are Amir Inyat, 29, of Brampton, Shais Ejaz, 25, of Brampton, Mohammad Habib, 32, of Toronto, and Kausar Rahimzada, 21, of Toronto. Steven Singh, 22, of Brampton, and a 15-year-old were previously arrested and now, additional charges have been laid on them.

Officers from Peel, York, and Halton regions, as well as the Ontario Provincial Police, were involved in the investigation. Inspector Rich Harris, of the TPS Hold Up Squad said that there has been a 64 percent increase in the number of robberies this year, compared to last year.

Vineet Washington