Peel police arrest 13 after organized crime group allegedly linked to series of home invasions

Hamilton Spectator

2 days ago

Peel police say they've busted an organized crime group that used youth to stage more than 15 violent home invasions, targeting luxury items like vehicles and high-end jewelry.
The operation, dubbed Operation Ghost, resulted in 197 charges against 13 suspects, including five youths.
The accused range in age from 15 to 24 years old.
Five of the accused have been released on bail, police said.
The organization had branches that specialized in research, recruitment, planning break-ins and the sale of stolen goods, police said.
Children are suffering nightmares because their homes were violated, Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown said, adding that the crimes left him feeling 'absolutely disgusted.'
'Organized crime is not just a big city problem,' Brown said. 'It's not just something you see in movies. It's here.'
'A pattern was identified here,' Peel Deputy Chief Nick Milinovich said. 'Adults were using youths and extreme violence.'
In one of the break-ins three suspects attempted to break into a home on Maybeck Drive in Brampton which had a BMW parked in the driveway at 2:45 a.m. last August. They fled when they failed to gain entry.
About 30 minutes later the same three suspects stormed into a Boathouse Road home and demanded keys to a Mercedes-Benz.
Three victims at that home were stabbed — one critically, with a wound narrowly missing his heart, police said.
That was followed by an attack on Sept. 10, when the driver of a Lamborghini sports car was shot and seriously injured in Mississauga. Two suspects were charged with attempted murder in that attack.
Operation Ghost linked that shooting with a string of home invasions and luxury vehicle and jewelry thefts across Peel and Halton, police said.
Police said their case was bolstered by seized phones and an accused's statement.
Some $1.8 million in property was stolen and about a third of the stolen property has been recovered, police said, adding that they also seized cellphones, laptops, a replica firearm and a quantity of white powder believed to be cocaine.
'Organized crime is calculated, well-connected and deeply damaging to our communities,' Milinovich said. 'These networks prey on at-risk youth, pulling them into violent, criminal activity. Disrupting these operations and giving young people a way out is critical.'
'This was an unusually violent, organized criminal network that terrorized families and drafted vulnerable youth into its activities,' Mississauga Councillor Alvin Tedjo said in a prepared statement.