Seven active and one retired member of the Toronto Police Service are facing a laundry list of charges following a sweeping corruption probe into alleged criminal activity facilitated by members of the service, including a murder plot, drug trafficking, the theft of identification and multiple shootings.
York Regional Police laid out the details of Project South – a months-long investigation into criminal activity allegedly perpetrated by some of the very people meant to prevent it – at a news conference in Aurora Thursday.
“This news is both shocking and completely unacceptable,” York Regional Police Chief Jim MacSween said. “Corruption has no place in policing.”
He said he knows people will find the results troubling.
“While this is a deeply disappointing and sad day for policing, this investigation also underscores the insidious, corrosive nature of organized crime,” MacSween said. “It highlights how these criminals find a way to infiltrate even the most well protected institutions across our society.”
Probe started with alleged murder plot
York Regional Police Deputy Chief Ryan Hogan led the massive investigation, which included around 400 officers from YRP, TPS, Ontario Provincial Police and the Correctional Service of Ontario.
He said “the genesis” of the investigation was the discovery in June 2025 that someone had accessed personal information about a manager at an Ontario Correctional Institute as part of a plot to murder him.
The investigation revealed that a Toronto police officer had accessed confidential information about the victim in a police database, and then passed it on to Brian Da Costa, a key figure in a criminal network operating in the GTA, with “significant international ties,” Hogan said.
Da Costa, police allege, then passed the information on to individuals who recruited others to carry out harm against the victim.
Hogan said a number of suspects went to the manager’s York Region home over a 36-hour period, allegedly for the purpose of murdering him, even after he received police protection.
One video played in the news conference showed three men, masked and allegedly armed with a loaded handgun, ramming a YRP cruiser parked at the manager’s home on June 20.
“These brazen actions highlight the clear dangers that were faced by the victim, his family and the police officers that were there to protect him,” Hogan said.
While he would not specify the exact motive for the alleged murder plot, he said it related to the correction officer’s “commitment to integrity in his position” and said he is not believed to be connected to criminal activity in any way.
Corruption probe linked to multiple shootings
The “complex” investigation then uncovered further alleged criminal activity, including extortion, commercial robberies, drug trafficking and seven shootings that took place in York Region.
During the news conference investigators played a reel of shootings they believe to be connected to the criminal network.
In some cases, police officers were offered bribes for information that would help facilitate those crimes, Hogan said.
Several of the accused officers allegedly took bribes in order to protect illegal cannabis dispensaries from scrutiny by law enforcement and some of them also participated in drug trafficking, Hogan said.
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Other criminal activity included the theft of driver’s licenses, health cards, passports and other personal property from a police facility.
“Other criminal actors outside the police service were also identified and arrested for the commercial trafficking of cocaine, methamphetamine, illicit cannabis, fentanyl, heroin and oxycodone, and yet, another illegal firearm was removed from the streets from a repeat offender who was already out on bail for drug trafficking,” Hogan said.
Investigation ongoing
Including the officers, 27 people have been charged as part of Project South.
“This is among the most complex and challenging investigations of my 28-year policing career,” Hogan said.
He added the investigation remains ongoing and said the force is committed to “leaving no stone unturned.”
The officers facing charges include members from various divisions and with varying levels of experience.
They include Derek McCormick, Elias Mouawad, John Madeley Jr. and his father, retired constable John Madeley Sr.
Tim Barnhardt, Robert Black, Saurabjit Bedi and Carl Grellette are also facing charges.
Da Costa is among the 18 others charged in the investigation.
Hogan said that while the charges are disturbing, the investigation at the same time highlights the dedicated hard work by many other officers.
“I would say that this investigation is the hallmark of investigative excellence. The investigators involved held a mirror to the face of the criminal justice system and to our policing institution to uncover the truth,” he said.
A ‘painful’ moment: Chief
Toronto Police Chief Myron Demkiw called the results of the investigation “shocking” and “painful” and said he is requesting an independent review to probe how it happened.
“We recognize that these types of allegations shake the very foundation of trust that people place in the institution of policing, and in this case, the Toronto Police Service,” Demkiw told reporters.
Demkiw said he is seeking to suspend some of the officers without pay where the law allows.
“You will answer for your actions in a court of law,” he added, speaking to the accused.
He also said he understands that this news will be distressing to Toronto residents.
“This is a painful and unsettling moment. It needs to be addressed openly and it needs to be addressed honestly,” Demkiw said. “The allegations against seven Toronto Police members and one retired member are deeply disappointing.”
He noted that “the harm goes far beyond the immediate wrongdoing” when organized crime penetrates the police service.
While investigators could not immediately say how many ongoing court case might be compromised by the charges against the officers, Hogan noted there is an automatic review of past cases triggered by the charges.
Demkiw thanked YRP for leading the investigation and said “their expertise and independence have been vital.”
Toronto Police Service Board Chair Shelley Carroll said she was “shocked” when she learned of the allegations and said most officers “really do want to serve our community” and she said she hopes the public realizes that.
In a statement, the TPS Board said it recognizes the investigation raises “serious public concerns related to police integrity and public safety.”
The board said it’s asked that the independent inspection by the Inspector General of Policing include supervision and span of control; recruitment screening and ongoing vetting; access to police databases and information systems; evidence and property management practices; and substance use and fitness for duty.
Demkiw said that while use of technology is ramping up, in this case “the audit trail worked,” meaning investigators were able to track who had accessed what data.
He said part of the external investigation will include making sure TPS is “best in class” in tracking its own data.
Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow, meanwhile, said in a news conference earlier on Thursday that “systemic change” is needed.
Premier Doug Ford called the charges “disappointing” and said he hopes it does not cause people to lose faith in police.
