13 arrested after criminal group operating in Ontario, Quebec dismantled: York police

Thirteen people are now facing charges as part of a joint-forces police investigation that dismantled a “violent criminal group” running in both Ontario and Quebec, York Regional Police say.

In a news release issued Monday, York police investigators said the arrests are linked to a string of violent incidents that happened between April 15, 2024 and March 20, 2025 in southern and eastern Ontario, as well as in Quebec.

Police say this group was allegedly responsible for multiple incidents including a murder, attempted murders and an attempted kidnapping, as well as armed carjackings, robberies and home invasions.

Officers from York police as well as police forces in Peel, Toronto, London were a part of the investigation, which also included Ontario Provincial Police and the Sûreté du Québec. Six search warrants were carried out in five locations over the last several months, and as a result, over 150 charges have now been laid linked to 13 people, police say.

“We know these perpetrators know no borders, so police must take the same approach,” York Regional Police Chief Jim MacSween said in a statement.

“By working collaboratively, we were able to dismantle a dangerous criminal group and take violent offenders off the streets.”

Four guns were also seized as part of the investigation, police say.

Investigators say they are still searching for a 19-year-old man from Hamilton and a 24-year-old man of no fixed address as part of the case.