An escape plot hatched in the jail cell of an alleged crime boss could have ended with the bombing of his prison and a Toronto elementary school, say police involved in a six-month investigation of an underworld syndicate.
The bombings, aborted by a police operation that culminated with the arrest of seven people this week, were part of a ruthless plan to free the reputed leader of a Toronto-based criminal enterprise.
The alleged mastermind, who was being held at the Metro West Detention Centre on organized-crime and kidnapping charges, used phone calls and visits from associates to orchestrate a jailbreak that involved blowing out a wall of the prison with a powerful explosive called Tovex.
Such a blast could have killed many people, police said, and could have led to a mass escape. The plot involved placing explosives at an elementary school. Police refused to elaborate on the planned school bombing, but sources said it may have been intended as a diversion.
The bomb plot is just one element of the crime syndicate's alleged operations. Several people are still being pursued in connection with what police described as a "mind-boggling" criminal enterprise that dealt with everything from drugs to credit-card fraud to high-end car theft.
Along with the seven arrests, police seized a wide range of items that give insight into the scope of the syndicate's activity. The items include assault rifles, handguns, high-powered explosives, drugs, cash, forged cheques and credit cards, 38 cars and trucks, two personal watercrafts and a police uniform.
Police said the plan to bomb the elementary school and Toronto's Metro West Detention Centre reveal the gang's ruthlessness.
"I think what we have here is a prime example of the extent to which these people will go to manipulate the justice system and to facilitate their criminal enterprises," said Superintendent Rocky Cleveland of Toronto Police Intelligence Services.
The bomb plot was uncovered during an investigation that involved several police forces including the RCMP. Police said they carefully tracked the plot's progress, and stressed that the public was never in danger.
"This situation was well in hand," Supt. Cleveland said. "Police had control of the situation, people who needed to be advised were advised and the matter was contained."
Police refused to identify the school, except to say that it was an elementary school in the Greater Toronto Area.
Police said the syndicate's criminal activities were both far-reaching and profitable. One of their main activities was forging credit cards and bank cheques. Another was car theft.
Superintendent Ron Taverner of Toronto Police Special Investigation Services said the syndicate ran a sophisticated car-theft operation that was based on acquiring registration information from late-model cars that had been written off in crashes, then stealing cars that exactly matched them.
The Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) plates from the wrecked cars were transferred onto the stolen ones -- a process known in the car-theft trade as "reVINing."
"There is a tremendous cost to the public for all this," Supt. Taverner said. "And it's not just the person who has their car stolen. What about all the people who buy them, then find out that the car they paid for doesn't belong to them?"
Police sources said the syndicate reflected the new face of Canadian organized crime, crossing both geographic and ethnic lines.
Dealing with this type of organized crime demands a new style of policing, Supt. Taverner said, forcing investigators from different areas and forces to co-operate.
"It's not like the old days," he said. "The criminals don't care what jurisdiction they're in."
Among the police agencies involved in the investigation that led to this week's arrests were the RCMP, the Ontario Provincial Police, Peel police, and the Toronto police intelligence and Asian crime units.
Mario Possamai, a forensic investigator with the Federal Investigation Agency who specializes in threat assessment, said the plan to bomb the jail and the school is an example of a disturbing trend.
"I think we are in a very dangerous era of organized crime in this country. We are seeing a growing disregard for the safety of the public."
Seven people have been charged in connection with the alleged bomb plot and a wide range of other alleged criminal activity. Among those charged is 43-year-old Balwinder Dhaliwal, whose address was listed as Maplehurst Correctional Facility. Mr. Dhaliwal faces charges of conspiracy to obstruct justice, conspiracy to traffic in a controlled substance, conspiracy to commit prison breach, and conspiracy to possess explosives.
Scope of the syndicate's activity
Items seized by Toronto police during their investigation of an alleged bomb plot: 200-kilowatt diesel generator "Large amount" of cash and cheques 38 vehicles two handguns two assault rifles two personal watercrafts 26 tubes of high-grade Tovex explosives, used in the mining industry 13 explosive detonators 45 washing machines 200 hits of ecstasy 450 Percodan prescription painkillers two computers counterfeit identification VIN documents fraudulent bank cheques forged credit cards a police uniform large-screen television DVD player stereo equipment two portable televisions