Three Toronto men have been charged with hate-motivated crimes targeting women and the Jewish community, police announced on Friday.
The arrests followed two failed kidnapping attempts in May and June, as well as the seizure of weapons including an AR-style rifle.
One of the suspects was charged separately with terrorism offenses that include conspiracy to commit murder for the Islamic State, and providing cryptocurrency to the group.
Waleed Khan, 26, Osman Azizov, 18, and Fahad Sadaat, 19, face almost 80 charges as a result of a major crimes investigation called Project Neapolitan.
A parallel investigation by the RCMP’s Integrated National Security Enforcement Team resulted in seven terrorism charges against Khan, who is accused of conspiring with an “Allah Kareem.”
He was further charged with operating a pro-ISIS Telegram account. The charges accuse him of making himself available to commit terrorism “in response to instructions” from a group.
All three suspects are scheduled to appear in court in Toronto on Jan. 29.
The announcement comes days after two pro-Islamic State terrorists killed 15 people and injured dozens more at Hanukkah celebrations at Sydney’s Bondi Beach on Sunday.
“The details of the investigation indicate a grave threat, involving the Islamic State and attempts to target women and Jewish Canadians in the Greater Toronto Area,” the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs said in a statement following the arrests.
“As we saw in Sydney, we are one intelligence failure away from a devastating loss of life. A lack of urgency on the part of our leaders puts Canadians in danger.”
“We urge authorities to take decisive measures to hold extremists accountable for radicalizing Canadians and setting the stage for mass violence right here in our country.”
In the wake of the attack in Australia, Canada’s threat assessment agency said there were no known plots of a similar nature in this country.
But the intelligence brief also warned that an attack targeting Jewish holiday events in Canada remained a “realistic possibility.”
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Canadian Jewish organizations have called for government action to address the antisemitism that has spiked since the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel.
According to Toronto police, its investigation began after three armed men tried to force a woman into a vehicle on May 31 but were interrupted by a passing motorist.
On June 24, a similar incident occurred when three armed men wearing balaclavas exited a vehicle and tried to lure two women into a light-coloured Audi SUV.
They chased the women but fled when a passerby came to the scene. All three women were sexually assaulted, according to the charges filed in Ontario court.
Peel police connected the incidents and worked with Toronto police to identify the suspects. Searches of their residences turned up multiple firearms and high-capacity magazines, police said.
Khan was arrested on Aug. 18. At the time, he was on probation for prior violent offences and was prohibited from possessing firearms.
He was also charged with an assault with a knife that allegedly occurred on July 31, according to the charges.
“The evidence gathered expanded the scope of the investigation to include additional offences motivated by hate – particularly targeting women and members of the Jewish community,” Toronto police said.
“Investigators also uncovered links to terrorism, prompting a separate but parallel RCMP investigation through INSET. This led the RCMP to lay terrorism-related charges against Waleed Khan.”
Although ISIS was defeated in Syria in 2019, it has expanded into South Asia and Africa, and has exploited the Hamas-Israel conflict to attract recruits.
Canadian police have disrupted several ISIS-related plots in Canada since then, one allegedly targeting a pro-Israel rally on Parliament Hill in 2023.
A father and son were arrested in Toronto last year over an alleged ISIS attack plot, and a Pakistani man was arrested in Quebec in September 2024 over a suspected mass shooting planned at a New York Jewish centre.
“It is alarming that multiple Islamic State-related terrorist plots have been uncovered over the past two years in Canada,” said CIJA CEO Noah Shack.
“This goes far beyond the safety of any one group. It is a matter of national security and public safety. There is a ticking time bomb in our country that our leaders must confront before it’s too late.”
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