Region of Peel Peel Regional Police recently collaborated with York Regional Police and the Ontario Provincial Police to address brazen illegal street racing activities occurring on the streets and highways of the GTA and beyond.
Project Drift stands for Dangerous Racing Investigative Focus Team. This team was created to support the ongoing Eliminate Street Racing on Streets Everywhere (E.R.A.S.E.), program.
E.R.A.S.E. is a joint forces operation that began in 1999, with a focus on enforcement and educational components for those who engage in illegal racing.
The driving behaviors that were captured far exceeded the threshold of what constitutes a dangerous driving charge.
Investigators were able to determine that those who involved themselves in these types of activities, were engaged in highly-organized and coordinated attacks on our roads, including taking over entire intersections and disrupting the travel of other residents.
Those involved with these groups are not car enthusiasts, and are responsible for dangerous disruptive vehicle manoeuvres including staged street races, drifting, stunting and other hazardous driving behaviours – often in the presence of large crowds.
Members of the investigative focus team gathered information and evidence which culminated in the execution of several warrants and resulted in the arrests of the following individuals:
Jonathan Rooplal, a 25-year-old man from Toronto, Tyler Kendall, a 29-year-old man from Brampton, Mohamed DjebelAmeli, a 22-year-old man from Richmond Hill, Torrell Campbell, a 22-year-old man from Barrie, Harmanjot Rehal, a 23-year-old man from Mississauga, and
Amidulla Baluch, a 21-year-old man from Toronto, have been charged with various dangerous driving charges.
Chief Nishan Duraiappah, Peel Regional Police, said: “Those who choose to show a blatant disregard for community safety by engaging in these types of illegal activities, need to be reminded there are legal consequences for their actions. The community has had enough. We have all had enough.”
Deputy Chief Cecile Hammond, York Regional Police, said: “Joining forces with Peel Regional Police and the Ontario Provincial Police on Project DRIFT strengthened the enforcement efforts of all three police services. We hope these arrests send a strong message to racers and those attending these rallies – we are committed to working together to keep our streets safe.”