Arya News - Investigation exposes ‘corrosive’ reach of organized crime in Canada, with links to bribes, drug trade and a murder plot
At least eight current and former Toronto police officers have been arrested following a sweeping investigation that officials say exposed the “corrosive” reach of organized crime into Canada’s largest municipal police service.
Police allege fellow officers accepted bribes, aided drug traffickers, leaked personal information to criminals who then carried out shootings and helped members of organized crime in a plot to murder a corrections officer.
“No corner of society is immune from the reach of organized crime, but when organized crime penetrates the Toronto police service, the harm goes far beyond the immediate wrongdoing,” said Chief Myron Demkiw of the “deeply disappointing” allegations. “To those charged today, you will answer for your actions in a court of law.”
Among the current and former police officers charged are a father and son, both of whom are accused of leaking information to criminals.
“This is a deeply disappointing and sad day for policing,” the York regional police chief, Jim MacSween, told reporters. More than 400 officers, including from York, Toronto and the Ontario provincial police, have been involved in the Project South investigation.
Ryan Hogan, deputy chief of York region, said the investigation began in June 2025 after an attempt to murder a corrections officer working at a Toronto jail.
“Over a 36-hour period, a number of suspects attended [the victim’s] home in York region, we allege for the purpose of murdering him,” he said. At the press conference, police showed surveillance footage in which three armed and masked men went to the officer’s home and rammed a police cruiser that was in the driveway.
Hogan said police officers unlawfully collected personal and private information passing it on to members of organized crime, “which ultimately resulted in serious harm in our communities”. He called the inquiry the “most complex and challenging investigations” in a career spanning nearly three decades.
Seven civilians, including three accused in the murder plot, and four other men with suspected links to international organized crime, were also charged.
One of the men, Brian Da Costa, was alleged involved in a “sophisticated” drug-trafficking operation. “When police officers arrested Mr Da Costa on January the 23 of this year, officers seized 169 pounds of cannabis and one pound of fentanyl, which we believe was destined outbound for a European location,” said Hogan.
Hogan said officers were alleged to have given “protection” to suspects accused of trafficking fentanyl and cannabis, and stole personal property from a police facility – including driver’s licences, passports and health cards.
Related: Tow truck turf wars: Toronto sees rise in violence likened to organised crime
Police acknowledged the investigation, which led to at least 30 arrests, also involved the tow-truck industry, which has increasingly become engulfed by gun violence, turf wars and links to organized crime.
Demkiw said the case against the officers was of an “incredible magnitude” and was without precedent in his time as leader of the Toronto police. In 2012, five Toronto officers with the drug squad were found guilty of obstructing justice after falsifying notes related to a warrantless search.
“Our top responsibility is to undertake the hard work of honest examination, to look critically at how this occurred, to identify the weaknesses and to address them in a way that upholds the trust placed in the Toronto police,” he said. “Organized crime is corrosive, that it infected our service is unacceptable, but these allegations are not representative of over 8,000 members.”
Hogan said police would revisit cases the officers worked on to determine if the accused directed or foiled the outcome of investigations.
Four officers charged have been suspended without pay.
“As a professional labour organization, we will ensure our members receive due process and wellness support as required,” the police union said in a statement. “We have no further comment regarding this investigation or the members involved.”