York Regional Police to Announce Charges Against Toronto Police Officers in 'Cartel' Organized Crime Probe

Security camera footage shows a gunman entering a Toronto pub during a mass shooting in March 2025 that was linked to tow truck industry violence. Toronto police arrested 10 people in connection with the incident. (CBC News: The National)

TORONTO — York Regional Police will hold a press conference later this morning to announce charges against multiple Toronto Police Service officers in connection with organized crime networks that have turned the region’s towing industry into a violent battleground, with youthful gunmen discharging firearms in public spaces and nearly 15 percent of all Toronto shootings now linked to the tow truck wars.

Citing police sources, CBC has reported that nine Toronto police officers have been arrested and charged in connection with what York Regional Police are calling “a lengthy investigation into organized crime and corruption,” dubbed Project South.

The arrests represent the latest chapter in law enforcement’s ongoing battle against organized criminal networks—from Ottawa to Toronto—that have infiltrated the lucrative ecosystem surrounding vehicle collisions, from insurance claims to towing contracts.

In 2024, there were 63 shooting and firearm discharge incidents related to tow-truck disputes, accounting for almost 13 per cent of all such incidents that year, according to CBC News. Last year, those incidents continue to soar, accounting for nearly 15 percent of the total, Toronto Police Service reported.

In June 2025, Toronto police announced Project Yankee had led to the arrest of 20 people and 111 charges, including 52 counts of conspiracy to commit murder. The suspects were members of a cartel known as “The Union,” described as a tightly organized criminal ring of tow truck operators vying for dominance in the industry. Police gained insight into the networks through extensive wiretap operations.

Toronto Police Chief Myron Demkiw has noted that some of the tow truck industry-related shootings happened in public spaces, raising serious public safety concerns across the region.

“As a result of our investigation, several acts of violence on a mass scale were deterred and prevented,” Demkiw said at a news conference at police headquarters last June. “We remain committed to addressing tow-truck industry-related crimes with a service-wide approach and also by working closely with our law enforcement partners as we did in this investigation.”

Young people have been involved in 20 per cent of Toronto homicides in 2024, according to Toronto Police Service. In July 2024, police arrested two youths, aged 15 and 16, charging them with first-degree murder in connection with tow truck-related violence. It is alleged that the youths were responsible for 11 additional shooting incidents.

Inspector Mike Slack, head of York Police’s organized crime unit, said investigators believe four distinct tow-truck “cartels” were operating in the GTA. Police alleged that “competition for control of the towing market resulted in murders, attempted murders, shooting, assaults, arsons, threats, and property damage.”

More details will be available following this morning’s press conference.