Luxury Car Ring Busted in Toronto

0:00It's March 23rd. Canada News today starts now. AI powered and ready. I'm Corey with the story. Police in the greater Toronto area have busted a violent criminal ring targeting luxury cars. Six suspects now face the total of 30 charges for a scheme that involved armed car jackings and shipping the vehicles to Africa. The operation, called Project Stratus, started after a series of thefts between January 18th and February 1st. A drew support from Toronto police, the Ontario Provincial Police, and Canada Border Services Agency. These criminals focused on high-end Mercedes-Benz models, changing their vehicle identification numbers before export. The violence included dragging victims from their cars during the heists. Investigators recovered eight vehicles worth about $800,000. They found the cars and storage lockers and auto body shop and shipping containers. Two suspects got caught trying to board a flight to Ghana at Toronto Pearson International Airport.

1:00Authorities say this network was highly organized and the probe continues with more details expected soon.