Four teens arrested in connection with Laval car theft ring

Abdellah Affane, Ouassim Aissi, Ahmed Mekkika and Mirwiss Nazrani were arrested as part of 'Project Quartz' which investigated car thefts in Laval, Que. SOURCE: SPL

Police in Laval (SPL) arrested four teens suspected in a car theft ring north of Montreal.

The SPL launched "Project Quartz" in 2022 in response to a number of car theft reports, and officers arrested four young men on April 28 as part of the operation.

"On the night of 28 April last, officers noticed a vehicle with four suspects on board arriving in the parking lot of a hotel establishment," the SPL said in a news release. "Two of the suspects approached a Jeep and one of them got in through the roof. Moments later, the Jeep's headlights were activated, at which point the police arrested the four suspects who had been caught in the act of attempting to steal the vehicle."

Nineteen-year-olds Abdella Affane and Mirwiss Nazrani and Ahmed Mekkika and Aymen Ouassim, both 18, were arrested in the operation.

Affane and Nazrani were released on conditions after appearing in court. Peel police in Brampton, Ontario took Mekkika and Ouassim into custody after their court appearance as they had an arrest warrant in connection with an attempted murder.