Police bust car theft ring connected to Vaughan organized crime

By Momin Qureshi, News staff and The Canadian Press

Toronto, Peel and York police have cracked down on a $5-million high-end car theft ring that connects back to an organized crime family in Vaughan.

At a news conference in Aurora on Friday, York Police Chief Eric Jolliffe said ‘Project Cyclone’ was a large and complex operation with international connections that ran in the GTA.

In total, $5 million in high-end vehicles, drugs and money were seized and 60 vehicles were recovered. The investigation led to 23 arrests and 137 charges.

Jolliffe said the organized criminal operation began with a “warm-up theft” of a car left running in a driveway and grew into a complex multimillion-dollar operation.

Police said ‘Project Cyclone’ involved an organized crime group led by Balwinder Dhaliwal. Three members of a family – husband, wife and their son – sat atop the organized crime ring.

Police also said the family was responsible for stealing an entire shipment full of Nutella.

Police said the name ‘Project Cyclone’ comes from the way the crime group was running its operation and in the way they were “cloning vehicles.” Police allege the group employed locksmiths to copy keys.

“If a criminal wanted a nice vehicle, they came to the Dhaliwal’s,” Jolliffe said.

“This group supplied stolen vehicles to other criminals to commit further crimes.”

The vehicles include Lamborghinis, Mazerattis, Porsches, and some Lexus models. The most expensive vehicle stolen was a $340,000 Lamborghini Huracán, which has since been returned to its owner.

Jolliffe said hundreds of vehicles were allegedly stolen and sold around the world.

Police said the investigation is ongoing and they expect to lay more charges in the future.

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