Here are scenes from a raging, dangerous war between rival tow firms around Toronto.
The Mob Reporter here with details on an odd form of organized crime that has had an alarming rise
across several cities of southern Ontario that are linked by the heavily traveled 400 series of
highways. These are some of the busiest highways in the world and there are a lot of collisions
on them. Tow trucks racing to the scenes of crashes has always been competitive and is
often rough and tumble. But in the last few years things have evolved into criminal towing cartels.
This week, police branded them as bona fide organized crime groups who use extreme violence,
threats, and intimidation to expand and defend their turf, their assets, and their interests. It's
not just to get that initial highway towing job, but for the real money that comes after, through
bogus repair bills, car rental fees, fake medical claims, physiotherapy, inflated insurance payments.
It's making them millions, police say, and that kind of cash has sparked a tow war
that's brought murders, shootings, assaults, dozens and dozens of firebombings, and arsons.
Here is Inspector Mike Slack of York Regional Police telling us what investigators alleged
from their sweeping raids and arrests this week that hit four criminal tow cartels.
Organized crime does not always come in the form that we expect. It does not always have a
name like 'Ndrangheta, the Mafia, or street gangs. Its members do not always wear colors or have
origins that are several decades old. Organized crime begins with an opportunity to make money
and a level of greed that leads to criminality and violence. The towing industry and its lack
of regulations have bred exactly that environment. Over time, unscrupulous companies and the people
working for them have found ways to inflate costs and victimize consumers. Their fraudulent billing,
fraudulent repairs, fraudulent physiotherapy claims have earned them millions in illicit
income and when these profits were not enough, they staged collisions using drivers they recruited.
They deliberately caused collisions on roadways and in parking lots across the G.T.A.. Organized
criminal tow groups have been formed. As the profits increased, so has the demand for territory and with
that, so has the need to control that territory through violence. The Greater Toronto Area has
been the scene of significant violence between rival tow trucks and tow industry.
We allege that the competition for control of the towing market has resulted in murders, attempted
murders, shootings, assaults, arsons, threats, and property damage. Insurance companies have
actively pursued legal action against various tow companies. In fact, the Carr Law Firm located in the
city of Vaughan had been hired by insurance companies to act on false claims until it too
became the target of violence, threats, and extortion. In response to all of this criminal
activity, in February of 2020, York Regional Police partnered with the Ontario Provincial Police,
the Toronto Police Service and Canada Revenue Agency and launched a joint force investigation
dubbed Project Platinum. This ongoing investigation has identified several organized criminal tow
groups working within the towing industry who have used violence and property damage as a means
to gain control. Investigators have confirmed the tow companies collaborated with auto repair shops
and physiotherapy clinics, as well as car and truck rental companies, to carry out their frauds.
With the assistance of the OPP and TPS, we have charged Thomas Sliwinski, Qalid Abderezak, Zakariye
Yousuf with numerous offenses, including attempted murder in connection with the attack at the Carr
Law Firm in March of 2020. Members of Project Platinum executed the first series of warrants in
Brantford and Tillsonburg, where we seized several firearms, including handguns and restricted rifles,
a large quantity of drugs was also seized, including cocaine and fentanyl. Arrested at that
time was Salloum Jassem, Marena Leachman and Dwayne Counsell of Brantford and Heather Rowbottom of
Tillsonburg. Project Platinum members also worked in cooperation with the York Regional Police homicide
unit and in March 2020, the homicide unit arrested Mohamad El-Zahawi and Abdelaziz Ibrahim, both
with ties to the tow truck industry for the murder of Soheil Rafipour. Rafipour, who was also working in
the tow industry, was shot and killed outside a residence in Richmond Hill in December of 2018.
On Thursday, April 30, 2020, and May 1, 2020, more warrants were executed in the city of Brantford
and the city of Hamilton. Five suspects were taken into custody and have been charged: Salloum
Jassem of Brantford was once again arrested, along with his brother Seif Jassem and Marena Leachman,
who have been charged with participating in and instructing offenses for a criminal organization,
as well as conspiracy to traffic cocaine, fentanyl, and firearms. Marena Leachman and Thomas Sliwinski
of Brantford were also charged at that time by the homicide unit with first-degree murder for their
part in the killing of Soheil Rafipour. Last week, on Monday, May the 20, York Regional Police, the OPP
and the Toronto Police executed 21 additional search warrants at residences and businesses
in the cities of Vaughan, Richmond Hill, Markham, Hamilton, Oakville, Toronto and the towns of Aurora,
and the town of East Gwillimbury. Arrested and charged at that time were: Alexander
Vinogradsky, Omer Zahawi of the city of Vaughan, and Filippo Genova of Toronto.
Among other offenses, this criminal organization orchestrated and executed an arson for profit
at a local vehicle storage compound in the city of Vaughan on March 29, 2020. Each party benefited
from the burning of three large transport trucks that were stored at this location.
Besides arson, these men have been charged with numerous offenses including: participating
in, instructing, committing offenses, and recruiting for a criminal organization. Investigators have
also laid mischief and fraud related charges. To date, as part of Project Platinum, we have seized
five kilograms of the deadly drug fentanyl, worth nine hundred thousand on the street; 1.5
kilograms of cocaine with a street value of $150,000; 1.25 kilograms of methamphetamine worth
a hundred thousand dollars; and 7.7 kilograms of cannabis worth $77,000 on the street, for a total of
$1.2 million dollars. We have also seized over a half million dollars in currency
and 40 firearms, including handguns , rifles, shotguns, and a machine gun.
During the investigation into these criminal groups, other prohibited devices
such as large capacity drums magazines, brass knuckles, a silencer, and tasers were seized.
To date, 11 tow trucks have been seized as offense-related property, with additional
tow trucks being identified for seizure in the future. The warrants on May 20th were very fruitful
providing documentation and computer records that will support the large number of criminal charges
to date — and the arrests that we will be making in the coming days, weeks, and months.