After months of intercepting phone calls and physical surveillance, investigators following leads into alleged Toronto police corruption discovered a “conspiracy” to set up and operate illegal cannabis dispensaries and massage parlours, a new document claims.
Court records — partially made public after a consortium of media companies, including Global News, requested that the court unseal hundreds of pages of evidence — include some fresh details of allegations investigators first levelled in February.
Portions of the information to obtain (ITO), written testimony that police must provide to a judge in order to obtain a search warrant, have been released, although the majority remains under a publication ban.
One section of the document, which was written by York Regional Police as they sought permission to search homes, cars and phones, claims detectives came upon a “marihuana dispensary conspiracy” as part of Project South.
“This part of the investigation arises from lawfully authorized intercepted private communications, corroborated by physical surveillance and other investigative steps,” the document explained.
Investigators claimed their police corruption investigation, sparked by concerns officers were illegally checking licence plates for civilians, had uncovered “an organized criminal scheme to establish and operate illegal marihuana dispensaries and massage parlours” in Toronto.
The details of how the alleged scheme operated and who was involved are all covered by a publication ban that the media consortium is fighting to overturn.
In February, York Regional Police Deputy Chief Ryan Hogan claimed four of the officers arrested as part of Project South had been taking bribes from a man accused of being a “key figure” in a Toronto-area criminal network.
“The investigation also identified four Toronto police officers … in an operation orchestrated by Mr. (Brian) Da Costa,” he said.
“We allege that these officers, in particular, were involved with Mr. Da Costa in supporting illegal cannabis dispensaries by accepting bribes to provide, ultimately, protection from law enforcement investigation.”
Da Costa was charged with a range of offences, including cannabis for the purpose of distribution and giving a peace officer a bribe.
None of the allegations contained in either the ITO or the charges laid by police in February have been proven in court.
Seven serving Toronto police officers were arrested as part of Project South, which the ITO claims has links to a variety of Toronto crime stories, including accused drug lord Ryan Wedding.
