A violent robbery last September of two drug dealers at a Thornhill hotel led to the dismantling of the crime syndicate, which has connections to biker gangs, York Regional Police said.
While investigating the armed robbery, which took place at Hilton Garden Inn, police were led to what they described as a “large organized crime ring” operating in the GTA.
The syndicate was involved in drugs, stolen property and extortion, police said.
“It’s clear that this network of individuals was very organized, they were very dangerous and they posed a serious threat to the safety and security of our community,” said York Police Chief Armand La Barge. "I think we disrupted a very sophisticated criminal enterprise here."
The 25 people are facing 198 charges in connection with the probe, dubbed Project Betrayal. The nine-month investigation tracked a crime spree across York, Peel, Toronto and other areas of the Golden Horseshoe.
Investigators have seized handguns and Tasers, 15 luxury vehicles, lawn tractors, $1.6 million in power tools, $108,000 cash and 300 marijuana plants.
Police equipment, including Kevlar vests, handcuffs and clothing, was also seized.
Several of the police items were found hidden inside a false wall of a Richmond Hill home, discovered during a series of 22 early-morning raids over the past two months, police said.
The group had been working in an auto dealership in Woodbridge that it used as a front to ship stolen luxury cars to Eastern Europe, police said.
“Organized crime groups are involved in a vast array of criminal activity and they have spread their tentacles all across Canada and virtually all across the world,” La Barge said.
Stanislaw Sieczka, 32, of Mississauga, is facing 42 charges, including theft, possession of stolen property, conspiracy to commit an indictable offence,
break-and-enter and possession of break-and-enter tools.
Six Brampton residents and a member of the Hells Angels biker gang are also among those charged.
lrosella@mississauga.net
