Peel Region police say they have arrested 18 people, including three teens, as part of an investigation into an organized crime network linked to multiple violent home invasions, armed robberies and carjackings.
Police say the months-long investigation, dubbed Project Warlock, began after a series of home invasion-style robberies and carjackings in Peel Region and throughout the Greater Toronto Area late last year.
They say between November 2023 and January 2024, there were eight robberies in Brampton, Ont., that helped them identify the alleged criminal network involved. Three of those robberies were at knife-point and two were home invasions involving firearms, one of which resulted in a victim getting a serious gunshot wound.
Police say there were also multiple carjackings over a weekend in March this year, including five carjackings targeting luxury vehicles in both Peel and York Region.
Investigators say Project Warlock was launched after they linked those cases together through video and physical evidence, and forensics.
As a result of the investigation, they say they carried out more than 60 search warrants, with 12 stolen vehicles recovered and four firearms seized, three of which have been traced to the U.S.
Peel Police Chief Nishan Duraiappah said some of the home invasions involved victims waking up to weapons being pointed at them in their beds, while children were in the home.
“It has forever changed the lives of some of these families and their children,” he said.
Police have arrested 18 people, including a 14-year-old and two 17-year-olds, and laid more than 150 criminal charges against the suspects.
Duraiappah said the rate of carjackings and home invasions has escalated across the Greater Toronto Area, and so far in 2024, Peel has had 87 carjackings and 54 home invasions.