Police forces across Ontario have launched a human trafficking strategy to crack down on the crime and highlighted two projects that have laid more than 50 charges against traffickers.
On Wednesday, the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP), along with the Barrie and Kingston police services announced details about the Provincial Human Trafficking Intelligence-led Joint Forces Strategy (IJFS).
“Under the IJFS, we are assisting and identifying, investigating and disrupting multi-jurisdictional human trafficking organizations operating in the province,” OPP Dep. Comm. Chuck Cox said at a press conference.
“The ultimate goal is to support victims and survivors, reduce victimization, and hold traffickers accountable for their crime,” he added.
The task force is part of the provincial government’s five-year anti-human trafficking strategy that was announced in March 2020.
Cox said Ontario records the highest number of police-reported human trafficking incidents in the country, according to data from Statistics Canada.
The IJFS consists of full-time investigators and analysts who have been assigned to 21 participating police agencies, including the OPP, Toronto, Durham, Halton, Barrie, Kingston, London, and Anishinabek and Awkwesasne First Nations’ police services.
Police highlighted two human trafficking investigations that were successfully completed under the IJFS, projects “Harwich” and “Wrigg.”
In Jan. 2021, Barrie police initiated a probe after reports of a man trafficking several women in the city. The IJFS supported the investigation, dubbed Project Harwich.
The investigation revealed that victims were being trafficked out of hotels in the area by two individuals, who were later arrested in May and November.
“The accused are facing eight criminal charges that include human trafficking and violent sexual or assault of type offences,” Barrie Police Chief Kimberley Greenwood said.
“The work that has been done and the work that is yet to be done by the participating partner agencies will not only disrupt and dismantle human trafficking organizations, but they will rescue those that have been trapped in this oppressive lifestyle,” she added.
Meanwhile, Project Wrigg involved police forces from several jurisdictions that collaborated to arrest and charge four suspects.
Project Wrigg was initiated by Kingston police on Jan. 5, 2021, in response to a report of sexual assault and trafficking of a female victim across the Greater Toronto Area, Montreal and Edmonton from Dec. 2019 to Jan. 2020.
The probe also revealed several potential victims living throughout Ontario and Quebec.
In Oct. 2021, four suspects were arrested and charged with 43 offences.
“Project Wrigg demonstrated the importance of working across jurisdictions to protect victims and hold traffickers accountable. We could not have accomplished this alone. This involved trafficking across multiple jurisdictions and provinces,” OPP Det. Insp. Jennifer Patton said.
Police said two of the individuals charged were arrested while travelling along Hwy. 401
“This highway has been referred to as the human trafficking corridor with traffickers using it to transport their victims to avoid detection. Project Wrigg may have begun in Kingston, but it moved from one community into many,” Kingston police Chief Antje McNeely said.
Anyone with information on projects Harwich and Wrigg are asked to contact the OPP, Barrie police, Kingston police or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 1-800-222-8477.
