TORONTO: The Toronto Police under Peel Region today announced the arrest of 119 accused in a major car theft racket in GTA and recovered 556 stolen vehicles from their possession in months long investigation named 'Project Stallion".
Among the arrested persons 41 are Indians and 39 0f them are from Punjab state in India. Police has not yet revealed identity of about dozen minors charged in the car theft cases.
The investigation began in November 2022 after about 2000 vehocles were stolen in GTA during one year. The investigation was largely focused on the Etobicoke neighbourhoods located in 22 and 23 Division.
Peel Region Police Chief Myron Demkiw was joined by Superintendent Ron Taverner, 22 and 23 District Commander, and Detective Sergeant Peter Wehby of the Organized Crime Investigative Support Team (OCIS) to give details of Project Stallion, an ongoing investigation into vehicle and catalytic converter thefts in Toronto’s west end.
“Vehicle thefts in Toronto have more than doubled since 2019, making it a significant issue in our city and across the GTA, ” said Chief Demkiw. “Project Stallion is an example of the actions Toronto Police are taking in our local communities to tackle this growing problem. The Toronto Police Service, including our OCIS team and police divisions, are working in alignment to recover stolen vehicles and hold people who commit these crimes to account.”
“The spike in auto thefts that we are seeing is not exclusive to the GTA. This is now a provincial, national, and even international problem, ” said Detective Sergeant Wehby. “Investigators are working around the clock in collaboration with our partners in policing, government agencies, industry and our communities. Project Stallion is an example of how intelligence-led and information sharing can help us tackle this growing problem.”
Taverner said that while a small number of the people charged were working on their own, most were a part of organized cells that were involved in auto theft in the GTA.
He said that all of the vehicles recovered were found in the GTA, though approximately 30 of them were located in shipping containers bound for the Port of Montreal.
Investigation between November 7, 2022 and April 11, 2023 resulted in big haul of stolen vehocles.The official figures are stated below.
Charged people: 119
Charges laid: 314
Vehicles recovered: 556
Value of recovered vehicles: $27, 406, 120
Among the accused from India, majority are from Punjab. Most of them are who were in possession of stolen vehicles after theft or in connivance with those stole the vehocles.
Nirmal Dhillon, 47, of Caledon, was charged with:
Possession of Property Obtained by Crime Over
Dangerous Operation of a Conveyance
Fail to Comply with Probation Order
Sukhwinder GILL, 40, of Woodbridge, was charged with:
Possession of Property Obtained by Crime Over
Jagjit Bhinder, 40, of Brampton, was charged with:
Possession of Property Obtained by Crime Over
Iqbal Hayer, 50, of Toronto, was charged with:
Possession of Property Obtained by Crime Over
Pardeep Grewal, 38, of Brampton, was charged with:
Possession of Property Obtained by Crime Over
Jiten Patel, 31, of Toronto, was charged with:
Possession of Property Obtained by Crime Over
Possession of Property Obtained by Crime Under
Varinder Kaila, 32, of No Fixed Address, was charged with:
Attempt Theft
Mischief Under
Gurveen Raboute, 26, of Brampton, was charged with:
Possession of Property Obtained by Crime Over
Possession of Property Obtained by Crime Under
Four counts of Fraud Under
Ramanpreet Singh, 29, of Mississauga, was charged with:
Possession of Property Obtained by Crime Over
Gagandeep Singh, 23, of No Fixed Address, was charged with:
Possession of Property Obtained by Crime Over
Possession of Property Obtained by Crime Under
Two counts of Possession of A Scheduled Substance for the Purpose of Trafficking
Obstruct Peace Officer
Sucha Chohan, 45, of Brampton, was charged with:
Possession of Property Obtained by Crime Over
Sandeep Takhar, 36, of Brampton, was charged with:
Possession of Property Obtained by Crime Over
Satwinder Grewal, 29, of No Fixed Address, was charged with:
Possession of Property Obtained by Crime Over
Possession of Property Obtained by Crime Under
Dangerous Operation of a Conveyance
Assault Police
Varinder Kaila, 32, of No Fixed Address, was charged with:
Possession of Property Obtained by Crime Over
Fail to Comply with Order
Amrit Kler, 28, of Cambridge, was charged with:
Possession of Property Obtained by Crime Over
Ajay Kumar, 23, of Brampton, was charged with:
Theft of Motor Vehicle
Possession of Property Obtained by Crime Over
Possession of Property Obtained by Crime Under
Fail to Comply with Release Order
Khemnath Singh, 58, of Toronto, was charged with:
Possession of Property Obtained by Crime Over
Possession of Property Obtained by Crime Under
Steven Singh, 21, of Brampton, was charged with:
Possession of Property Obtained by Crime Over
Inqlab Singh, 26, of No Fixed Address, was charged with:
Possession of Property Obtained by Crime Over
Harpreet Singh, 35, of No Fixed Address, was charged with:
Possession of Property Obtained by Crime Over
Manpreet Gill, 36, of Brampton, was charged with:
Possession of Property Obtained by Crime Over
Princedeep Singh, 25, of Brampton, was charged with:
Possession of Property Obtained by Crime Over
Manpreet Gill, 37, of Brampton, was charged with:
Possession of Property Obtained by Crime Over
Mandeep S. Toor, 44, of Mississauga, was charged with:
Possession of Property Obtained by Crime Over
Possession of Property Obtained by Crime Under
Dilpreet Singh, 23, of No Fixed Address, was charged with:
Possession of Property Obtained by Crime Over
Tridev Verma, 33, of Brampton, was charged with:
Possession of Property Obtained by Crime Over
Joga Singh, 31, of No Fixed Address, was charged with:
Possession of Property Obtained by Crime Over
Gauravdeep Singh, 22, of No Fixed Address, was charged with:
Possession of Property Obtained by Crime Over
Jasdeep Janda, 25, of Mississauga, was charged with:
Three counts of Possession of Property Obtained by Crime Over
Harshdeep Singh, 28, of Brampton, was charged with:
Possession of Property Obtained by Crime Over
Possession of Property Obtained by Crime Under
Fail to Comply with Release Order
Ravi Singh, 27, of Brampton, was charged with:
Possession of Property Obtained by Crime Over
Possession of Property Obtained by Crime Under
Fail to Comply with Release Order
Navjot Singh, 27, of Barmpton, was charged with:
Possession of Property Obtained by Crime Over
Possession of Property Obtained by Crime Under
Diljot Dhillon, 24, of Niagara Falls, was charged with:
Possession of Property Obtained by Crime Over
Possession of Property Obtained by Crime Under
Jasraj Brar, 18, of No Fixed Address, was charged with:
Theft of Motor Vehicle
Mehkash Sohal, 18, of No Fixed Address, was charged with:
Theft of Motor Vehicle
Dilpreet Saini, 32, of No Fixed Address, was charged with:
Possession of Property Obtained by Crime Over
Sunil Masoun, 42, of No Fixed Address, was charged with:
Three counts of Possession of Property Obtained by Crime Over
Two counts of Fail to Comply with Probation Order
Manpreet Gill, 36, of Brampton, was charged with:
Theft of Motor Vehicle
Jasdeep Singh, 25, of No Fixed Address, was charged with:
Possession of Property Obtained by Crime Over
Sukhvinder Singh, 42, of Toronto, was charged with:
Possession of Property Obtained by Crime Over
Alambir Singh, 23, of Toronto, was charged with:
Possession of Property Obtained by Crime Over
For a full list of those facing charges follow this link.