Montreal Police (SPVM) arrested 14 people on Wednesday, bringing the total number of arrests to 40 as part of a major operation cracking down on jewelry store thefts across the Montreal area. Police arrested eight adults and six minors, and carried out approximately 10 searches in Montreal, Laval, Rosemère, and Longueuil, seizing nearly $4 million worth of stolen jewelry and cash. The five adult suspects appeared at the Montreal courthouse Thursday morning and face charges including armed robbery and laundering the proceeds of crime. The charged adult suspects are: The other three adult suspects were released pending further legal proceedings. The six minor suspects, who are between the ages of 14 and 17, appeared in Quebec Court’s Youth Division Thursday morning to face charges of armed robbery. Their identities cannot be released because of their age, Montreal police said. Police operation began 2 months ago Several jewelry store thefts have been reported across the Montreal area since the beginning of the year. Since the beginning of 2026, 55 armed jewelry robberies were recorded in the SPVM’s jurisdiction. Of those robberies, 34 were committed using the same “smash-and-grab” tactic. The tactic involves smashing display cases with hammers to quickly grab jewelry before fleeing. According to SPVM Const. Iad Hanna, head of the East Special Investigation Project Group, the thefts are being driven by rising gold prices and the exploitation of young people by criminal networks. In response to the jewelry store robberies, the SPVM deployed a task force in September with the goal of identifying people believed to be orchestrating the robberies. Criminal networks target youth online Hanna said criminal networks were allegedly recruiting young people through social media platforms and chatrooms, referring to them as “young soldiers” and having them do the “dirty work.” Noovo Info reported that criminal networks were allegedly recruiting teenagers through video game platforms such as Roblox and Minecraft. “Organizations were planning the job and giving the tools to the young suspects to commit the crimes,” Hanna told CTV News. Hanna said organizations would entice young people to commit the crime by promising them quick money. “It’s the same psychology criminal organizations have been using since the beginning,” Hanna said. “They tell them they will get money fast, and there’s no risk or violence, which is completely false.” Criminal networks hierarchy Hanna said the organizations would also tell young people that committing the crimes would bring them fame and help them move up within the criminal network. He said the youth were allegedly told that after completing a certain number of thefts, they could advance to higher positions, such as recruiting other young people and organizing robberies, known as “cells.” Above them are what police call “sponsors,” who are responsible for selling the stolen goods. “Yesterday, we targeted three cells that we think were responsible for the majority of the robberies. Those cells were organizing, planning the crime and giving them the tools, and we also targeted the sponsors,” Hanna said. Hanna said the task force is also focusing on prevention and will work with the suspects’ families to ensure the young people do not reoffend.
