'Theft groups enter Canada shortly after DST ends in the fall and return home to their countries in the spring after they’ve committed crime' police say

Organized burglary gangs blending sophistication with brute force are wintering in Canada from Latin America and Eastern Europe as “crime tourists,” coming to take advantage of early seasonal darkness and Canadian habits to ransack and loot homes.

The latest evidence of roving, criminal networks of seasonal migrants comes from York Region, a large municipality north of Toronto, where 20 people from six separate crime groups were arrested after a four-month probe into home break and enters.

“This is a cyclical trend that we’ve seen for multiple years now,” said Det.-Sgt. Pat Smyth, commander of York Regional Police’s Integrated Property Crime Task Force.

“Latin American theft groups and Eastern European theft groups enter Canada shortly after daylight saving ends in the fall and return home to their countries in the spring after they’ve committed crime.”

Those arrested in York police’s Project Dusk are “crime tourists,” he said.

Alvaro Almeida, deputy chief of York police, said their plans were purposeful and well organized.

“Every single one of these individuals arrived in York Region from outside the borders of Canada and we believe their sole purpose for coming here was to commit crime for profit,” Almeida said. “They are here purely for profit.”

They are here purely for profit

Reduced daylight in winter in Canada provides a sweet spot for bandits watching and waiting for targets while darkness hides their movements and there is less chance of people being home when they smash their way in.

“They know that it’s now getting dark here around 5:30, when people come home from work and then go out to get groceries, they go to their kids’ sports, they go out for dinner, or they go to the gym,” Smyth said.

The gangs monitor affluent neighbourhoods in and around Toronto. Most break-ins happened between 6 p.m. and 10 p.m., he said.

“There’s a time period when they know no one’s at home. They do surveillance. And they’ll sit and watch, and identify when people are coming, when people are going. And then they’ll do the break in.”

Some of the burglars used illegal signal jammers to defeat surveillance cameras, cellphones, and some alarm systems, and signal detectors to reveal security systems and hidden cameras.

After patience picking a target, they switch to a blitz-style burglary.

Sometimes the bandits kick in a rear or side door, even a front door. Police seized several “entry kits” that included pry bars and punch tools, used to smash glass, such as sliding patio doors or windows.

Then they swarm in, smashing and grabbing, upending anything in their way as they rummage through drawers, cupboards, and shelves for easy-to-carry valuables. They love watches, jewelry, cash, passports, luxury handbags, small electronics, designer clothes, and collectibles.

“They’re literally in there only minutes. They turn over the rooms and get out,” Smyth said. Often the valuables are stuffed in grocery store bags, so they don’t look odd carrying bulging bags. Sometimes they use suitcases found in the home to carry their loot.