Toronto police release Most Wanted Fugitives list

CTV Toronto: Police release most wanted list The Toronto Police Fugitive Squad has revealed the identities of those on their most wanted list. Tamara Cherry has the details.

They could be your neighbour, your co-worker or your friend. Maybe they've concocted a story. Maybe you know exactly what they've done.

The Toronto Police Fugitive Squad has released a rare list detailing their most wanted targets with hopes the public can steer them in the right direction.

"We looked at ten of the most serious crimes and ones where they have the potential to re-offend in Toronto and we want to remove that criminality from Toronto," Toronto Police Det. Sgt. Wayne Banks said in an interview Friday morning at the squad's covert Toronto office. "They come to Canada, they come to Toronto because it's easy for them to hide. They get into the communities, the communities hide them."

By Friday afternoon, the list of 10 had changed to a list of nine, thanks to investigative leads that could be jeopardized if the case is made public.

The Fugitive Squad usually does not publicize their targets until the arrests have been made, so as not to drive the fugitives further underground. The following list, however, presents some exceptional circumstances.

"They've very evasive," Banks said. "These are ones that we have exhausted everything that we can do to locate them, so now we have to turn to the public and ask for the public's help in identifying if these people are still in Toronto, to tell us where they are and then that way, we can affect an arrest and then remove them from Canada."

Given how long the fugitives have been on the run, Banks suspects many of them are being harboured.

"They have to be protected somehow," Banks said. "There's got to be somebody that has given them an alias, has given them a job, has put them into some type of housing to where they don't need to use their real name and they've been able to avoid capture."

To those who may be harbouring a fugitive, Banks had this warning: "We will come after you, we will charge you and we will prosecute you."

Anyone with information about these cases is asked to contact the Fugitive Squad at 416-808-5930 or [e-mail]. Anonymous tips can be made through Crime Stoppers by calling 1-800-222-TIPS (8477) or texting TOR and your message to CRIMES (274637).