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The Ontario Police busted a major auto theft gang which was stealing cars and sending them to Middle-East countries. 20 people were arrested and among them eight are of Indian origin.
A total of 134 charges have been slapped and 306 cars with a combined value of $25 million were seized in this 'Project Chicadee' investigation that began in August 2023, police said. All these cars were destined for Syria, Iraq, Egypt and Lebanon.
A sophisticated criminal network
The cops called it a sophisticated criminal network which involved registered freight forwarding companies using fraudulent documentation. They used multiple ports across Canada for shipping mostly stolen luxury and high-end vechiles and SUVs to West Africa and Middle East markets.The investigation began in 2023 when a surge in auto thefts were reported in Greater Toronto area. More than 30,000 vehicles were stolen in Ontario in 2023.
List of the 20 arrests made
Muhammad Mirza, 52Muhammad Malik, 29Alaelddein Alhaj-Salem, 28Barrington Robinson, 38Amandeep Singh, 40Sultan Abu-Shabab, 23Yahya Khan, 23Zia Qazi, 37Usman Ishaq, 20Sukhwinder Kaloya, 53Raghbir Walia, 57Samina Kamran, 45Sandeep Kumar, 33Jiggerdeep Singh, 26Reena Damr, 21Wadohi Fadul, 25Bismark Owusu-Ansah, 64Qais Hamidi, 34Mario Rahim, 28Gurbaj Singh, 26Amandeep Singh, Sukhwinder Kaloya, Raghbir Walia, Sandeep Kumar, Jiggerdeep Singh, Gurbaj Singh, Samina Kamran, Reena Damr are Indian-origin among the charged.
Police said these 20 people were working together to facilitate the stealing and smuggling of cars but they were not in one cohesive group. In October and November, search warrants were executed in Toronto and surrounding cities, including Brampton and Mississauga, as well as one in Quebec, for dozens of residences, industrial sites and vehicles. In addition to the vehicles, authorities recovered more than $190,000 (Canadian) in cash, three firearms and industrial equipment such as forklifts.
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