All of them have legal visas to enter and stay in Canada. But they did not come to the country to study or work. They were brought to the country for criminal operations. The Durham regional police arrested 46 individuals, including Indians, in connection with what they are now calling 'criminal tourism' -- where international organized crime groups are sending people to Canada for the purpose of high-profit crimes. The investigation named Project Jetsetter went on for years and over 200 incidents since 2019 and $2.6 million in financial losses have been linked to the network. 1,500 charges have been laid.
The racket covered a wide range of crime: large-scale retail theft, vehicle-purchasing scams, jewelry theft, vehicle financing fraud and staging collisions to commit insurance fraud.
"They will exploit opportunities wherever they exist, and while the methods may vary, the goal remains the same: to profit at the expense of our residents, our businesses and communities," Durham police chief Peter Moreira said.
A majority of the arrested are from Romania and India.
"They travel quite frequently from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, they come here and they commit criminal offences, and a lot of times, they leave the country before we can identify who they are," said detective Brad Chapman adding that 164 suspects are still wanted.
"This activity is not unique to our region. We are seeing the same individuals, the same methods, and the same networks operate across the Greater Toronto Area and across Canada," Chapman said. "These groups are mobile, coordinated, and in many cases connected to a broader organized crime network that extends beyond our borders."
“Criminal tourism is a recent, borderless form of organized crime that impacts the daily lives of Canadians,” Mario Panizzon, director general of RCMP National Intelligence, said in a statement.
List of Indians named for criminal tourism in Canada
Some of them are arrested and some of them are wanted
Parvadiya, Savan Dharmeshbhai
Jagdeep Singh
Gurpreet Kaur
Arshdeep Gurm
Harsimran Singh Dhillon
Arshjot Singh Dhillon
Gurinder Singh
Pradeep Kumar
Sher Singh
Paramjeet Singh
Jasdeep Singh
Nitika Singla
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