Peel police make 65 arrests, lay over 500 charges in retail theft investigation

Police in Peel Region have arrested dozens of suspects and laid more than 500 charges in connection with alleged retail thefts in Brampton and Mississauga.

Police say the investigation, dubbed ‘Project Filcher,’ took place between Feb. 6 and April 16 of this year and focused on retail stores in 12 Division that have experienced high levels of retail theft.

Project Filcher resulted in 65 arrests and 545 criminal charges laid. Click here for a full list of the arrests and charges.

Overall, police said more than 350 theft incidents resulted in more than $250,000 in retail losses.

“A crime that is impacting everyone, businesses, workers and communities across our region. Retail theft is widespread in our region, in many cases is driven by organized, coordinated, repeat offenders,” Peel police Deputy Chief Marc Andrews said at a news conference at police headquarters on Thursday afternoon.

“This is not simple retail theft. This is organized crime that has direct impact on our businesses, our workers and our communities, and the cost has passed on to our communities.”

Const. Bernard Trlaja, a lead investigator of Project Filcher, said businesses in 12 Division experienced an increase in retail thefts in 2025.

“A preliminary overview investigation revealed these thefts were driven by a small group of repeat offenders who regularly targeted the same stores,” he said.

Const. Trlaja said between June and December 2025, police recorded 266 thefts at Nike and “identified 18 prolific offenders.” He also said 41 thefts have been reported at a Walmart in Mississauga since the store opened in May 2025.

These two stores along with Winners, Shoppers Drug Mart and Rexall faced over $83,000 in combined losses, police said.

Various LCBOs in Mississauga also reported 556 thefts, which resulted in $173,000 in retail loss.

Const. Trlaja said some suspects involved in the retail thefts were working on their own while others were operating in groups.

Police also said some of the suspects were using vehicles that were allegedly stolen, while others would walk in and leave with the alleged stolen goods.

“The stolen goods, they moved very fast and they would be sold. They would be sold either at locations close-by and they would be sold for money or in exchange for drugs,” Const. Trlaja said.

He said some of the goods stolen included alcohol, shoes, clothes, and various items from Walmart.

Police said officers identified and located “repeat offenders” who are believed to be responsible for several of these incidents.

“They’re repeat offenders in that they were repeating the offence. But we also had a number of these offenders that were previously arrested for this type of offence or other offences and were out on a form of release …and then were engaging in the similar activity again,” the deputy police chief said.

Retail thefts have been a growing problem in recent years and many of the alleged cases have been fuelled by organized criminal networks. In 2025, nearly 7,500 incidents were reported in Peel Region alone.

Police said Project Filcher was supported through the Community Safety and Policing Grant, provided by the Ontario Ministry of the Solicitor General.

The investigation is ongoing.

With files from Shauna Hunt, CityNews