Windsor police make arrests in $500K whisky heist, search for more suspects
Police say they’ve arrested five suspects in Windsor and Essex County
Windsor police announced Friday that they've made multiple arrests in a recent $500,000 whisky heist, but are still searching for more suspects.
The Windsor Police Service said that on Thursday, officers arrested five people in the city and surrounding county. The suspects are charged with a list of crimes related to the alleged theft of more than 1,000 boxes of Crown Royal products from a truck trailer.
"The non-retail value of the items stolen was $61,000," Windsor police Insp. David DeLuca said at a press conference Friday. "However, the retail value is over half a million, so it's a very valuable commodity."
Police say that on the night of May 17, several suspects stole the loaded commercial truck trailer from Titanium Transportation Group, a fenced-in trucking business near Devonshire Mall. The empty trailer was found the next day in the 4000 block of County Road 46, police said.
"The stolen whisky, which had a retail value of more than $500,000, remains missing," police said in a press release Friday.
DeLuca specified that investigators have so far found 66 of the boxes of liquor, which contained both regular Crown Royal and peach and apple-flavoured varieties.
"We have several locations that are still under investigation," he said. "We have executed two warrants so far at locations."
The Canadian whisky, which is produced by Diageo, came from the company's Amherstburg plant, he said. Diageo did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday.
Windsor police in its release said the service's target base unit launched the investigation and quickly identified five charged suspects, who range in age from 27 to 57.
All five are charged with conspiracy to commit an indictable offence, while four are also charged with possession of stolen property for the purpose of trafficking exceeding $5,000. One man is charged with break-and-enter at a place other than a dwelling and theft of a motor vehicle as well.
"There's always video available," DeLuca said. "You're under video 24 hours a day when you go through the city. So using those investigative techniques, we're able to identify vehicles and suspects, which led us to these arrests."
DeLuca said officers have seized two vehicles as part of the case, too.
Police last week released surveillance footage showing a truck backing up to the doors of a transport truck trailer parked in an unidentified lot.
"There was a rental truck that we believe has been used to transport some of the stolen alcohol down the road to the 401, going east to cities like London and maybe even farther east," Const. Bianca Jackson, a WPS spokesperson, said at the time.
Investigators are now looking for two more suspects, one of which they described as "a white male, approximately 40 years of age, with a dark-coloured full beard" who was wearing a baseball hat and dark hoodie at the time of the alleged theft.
The other suspect is a white man in his thirties who was also wearing a dark hoodie, as well as black shorts and shoes, police said.
"The investigation is ongoing and other arrests are anticipated," police said.
Jackson said last week that Windsor police officers were working with other forces in the region to track down the suspects.
"In my time here, I can't say that I have recalled seeing anything like this before," she said.
Police are asking anyone with information about the case to contact them at 519-255-6700, ext. 4350, or Crime Stoppers at 519-258-8477.
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With files from Pratyush Dayal