Pharmacies are advised to be “vigilant” following a series of violent “take-over style” robberies across the GTA.
Speaking during a Wednesday morning news conference, Insp. Rich Harris, of Toronto Police Services’ Hold Up Squad, said if possible, pharmacy owners should “invest in good surveillance cameras, panic alarms, time delayed safes and make sure those safes are being closed at all times.”
This advice comes as Toronto police announced the arrest of 10 people, including six youth, in connection with 26 violent armed robberies at GTA pharmacies.
The incidents all happened between Dec. 8, 2022 and Feb. 10, 2023.
Police said in all cases, a group of males travelling in stolen vehicles rushed inside pharmacies and demanded staff members hand over both narcotics and cash.
In some of the incidents, the assailants allegedly used a handgun, while in others they used a knife or physical violence to “control any shoppers or employees” before fleeing to an awaiting vehicle, police said.
Investigators said an “extensive” multi-jurisdictional investigation known as Project Mayhem resulted in multiple arrests on four different dates.
On Jan. 24, Toronto police said officers pulled over a stolen vehicle and arrested two males. Police allege at the time of the arrests, officers recovered a knife and a quantity of stolen narcotics.
Two Criminal Code Search Warrants were then executed in connection with that investigation during which police said they recovered related “items of evidentiary value.”
Two boys, age 14 and 15, were charged with several offenses. They were both scheduled to appear in court on Jan. 25.
Less than a week later, on Jan. 30, Toronto police said they observed another stolen vehicle with three males inside. Police said officers conducted a “high risk vehicle stop” and arrested the vehicle’s occupants.
They said at the time of the arrests two replica handguns, a quantity of stolen narcotics, and other items of evidentiary value were recovered.
Nathan Kelly, 20, Terrance Timm, 19, and Armani Brown, 18, all of Toronto, were arrested and charged with several related offenses. Kelly had a Jan. 31 court date, while the Timm and Brown appeared before a judge on Jan. 25.
This ongoing investigation then resulted in three more arrests on Feb. 9 after police executed three more Criminal Code search warrants.
Police said during those raids, items of evidentiary value were also located and seized.
The boys from Toronto, age 17, 16, and 14, were charged. They were all scheduled to appear in court on Feb.9.
Police said the following day, on Feb. 10, they were called to seven pharmacy robberies in Toronto and Halton Region, and began a search for suspects and identified a vehicle of interest. Investigators said that vehicle with two males inside allegedly stopped and entered a pharmacy. Officers subsequently entered that premises and arrested two male suspects. Police said they also recovered a loaded handgun.
Two Criminal Code Search warrants also allegedly resulted in the seizure of items of items of evidentiary value.
Jahshaide Clarke, 20, and a 17-year-old youth, both of Mississauga, was arrested and charged with more than two dozen related charges. They both had a Feb. 11 court appearance.
The suspects are facing a combined total of 60 charges, including weapons offenses.
Harris said he believes that the young persons involved in these armed robberies were “lured” by the quick money that they were able to make. He noted that the stolen narcotics, which include prescription-grade OxyContin and fentanyl, can be sold on the street for upwards of $60 per pill in some areas.
He also said that “older people” are “involved in organizing these crimes.”
In 2022, there were a total of 124 pharmacy robberies in Toronto, police said.
So far in this year, there been 45 pharmacy robberies in the city, compared to 11 at this time last year, police said.
“Of those arrested, 67 per cent are young people," Toronto police said in a Feb. 15 news release.
Anyone with further information is urged to contact Toronto police or Crime Stoppers anonymously.
