Police raids held across the GTA and Montreal Thursday morning led to dozens of arrests and were part of 'Project Sizzle,' a months long police investigation that has been linked to two Toronto murders.
Several sources confirmed to CTV News Toronto the murders were those of 25-year-old Charles Shillingford, who was shot before crashing his car near Yonge and College Sts. in October 2015 and Quinn Taylor, 29, and David Eminess, 26, who were among five people shot on a busy Chinatown sidewalk Jan. 31, 2016.
Toronto police spokesperson Mark Pugash told reporters Thursday morning that the investigations are ongoing.
"This is targeting guns, gangs and drugs,” he said. “It is a very significant operation."
The pre-dawn raids were the result of a months-long investigation dubbed “Project Sizzle.” More than 50 people were arrested and 42 search warrants were executed as a result.
A large amount of property was also seized by authorities during the raids.
Toronto Police Homicide Staff Insp. Greg McLane announced arrests in the Shillingford homicide in May, naming four suspects who were believed to be members or associates of the so-called Heart of Kings street gang. That gang is believed to have connections to North Preston's Finest, a Nova Scotia-based gang with a reputation for turning out violent drug-dealing, gun-toting pimps.
Charged with the first-degree murder of Shillingford were suspects Jahmal Joseph Richardson, 31, Mitchell Mannette, 20, Denzell Tyresse Walter Desmond, 19, and Kyle Sparks MacKinnon, 26.
Sparks MacKinnon was already in custody facing two counts of second-degree murder and three counts of attempted murder in relation to the January shooting in Chinatown.
On Thursday, sources confirmed to CTV News Toronto that arrests in these homicides came about as a result of Project Sizzle, though it is unclear whether the sole target of the project was the Heart of Kings street gang.
Sources said the project was also aimed at human trafficking — a charge commonly laid in pimping cases in which women and girls are forced to work in the sex trade.
A woman whose son was arrested as part of the project said she was told by her son's lawyer that his gun-related allegations came about as part of a wire tap project.
At a news conference on Wednesday afternoon, Police Chief Mark Saunders briefly said the raids targeted people connected to criminal activity.
"I believe that the Project Sizzle will have a positive impact on community safety," Saunders said. "It was a very focused investigation and the people we’re apprehending are a vast majority of people that are causing criminal activity.”
Saunders is expected to speak in more detail about the investigation tomorrow morning.
