A 27-year-old Toronto man accused of taking part in a violent attempted kidnapping of two young women in Mississauga this summer is now facing a series of terrorism-related charges following a federal RCMP investigation.
Waleed Khan was arrested on Nov. 26 by officers with the RCMP’s Integrated National Security Enforcement Team (INSET) for the Greater Toronto Area, the Mounties said in a news release Friday. The RCMP alleges Khan was acting on behalf of the terrorist organization ISIS and has charged him in connection with what it describes as an ongoing investigation into terrorism-related offences.
Federal authorities say the alleged activities occurred between June 17 and Aug. 17 in Toronto and elsewhere in Ontario.
The terrorism charges stem from a separate but coordinated investigation alongside a joint probe by Peel Regional Police and Toronto Police into two violent incidents involving attempted kidnappings. In that investigation, Khan and two other Toronto men — Fahad Sadaat, 19, and Osman Azizov, 18 — face numerous criminal charges related to the attempted abduction of two women on June 24 in the Streetsville area of Mississauga.
In that incident, police said the women were walking along Ellesboro Drive near Swanhurst Boulevard when they were chased by three masked men armed with a rifle, a handgun and a knife. The suspects allegedly tried to force the women off the street, but a passerby intervened, allowing the victims to escape without physical injuries.
Toronto and Peel police said Friday that additional charges have now been laid in their investigation as they continue to probe what they describe as “serious alleged criminal offences including kidnapping, attempted kidnapping with firearms, conspiracy to commit sexual assault, hostage taking and other offences informed, in part, by hate-motivated extremism.”
Toronto Police said the RCMP terrorism case is a “separate but coordinated investigation.” Sadaat and Azizov are not part of the RCMP probe.
According to the RCMP, Khan has been charged with several offences, including allegations that he:
- directly or indirectly provided property, knowing it would be used by or benefit a terrorist group, namely ISIS;
- provided property, including social media accounts, for the benefit of ISIS;
- participated in the activities of a terrorist group by supplying property to carry out or facilitate terrorist activity;
- made himself available, at the direction of a terrorist group, to facilitate or commit a terrorism offence or an act outside Canada that would be a terrorism offence if committed here;
- facilitated terrorist activity by providing property used to carry out such acts or benefit those involved;
- committed an indictable offence — conspiracy to commit murder — for the benefit of, at the direction of, or in association with a terrorist group; and
- conspired with persons known and unknown to commit murder.
RCMP Supt. James Parr, officer in charge of the GTA INSET, said the arrest marks the culmination “of a significant investigation by the RCMP and its partners to disrupt threats to national security and preserve public safety.”
Meanwhile, the Toronto-Peel investigation, dubbed Project Neapolitan, has resulted in 79 charges laid against Khan, Sadaat and Azizov.
Toronto Police said Project Neapolitan was launched following two incidents:
- On May 31 in Toronto, a woman was approached by three men — one armed with a handgun and another with a knife — near Don Mills Road and Rochefort Drive. The suspects allegedly tried to force her into a vehicle but fled when interrupted by a passing motorist.
- On June 24 in Mississauga, the attempted kidnapping of two women occurred in the Streetsville area, as previously detailed.
As the investigation progressed, police said evidence expanded the scope of the case to include additional offences allegedly motivated by hate, particularly targeting women and members of the Jewish community. Investigators also uncovered links to terrorism, prompting the parallel RCMP investigation.
Peel Regional Police Chief Nishan Duraiappah said what began as “armed, coordinated attempts to kidnap women” ultimately led to arrests that stopped “a dangerous escalation of hate-motivated crimes and terrorism across the Greater Toronto Area and beyond.”
Toronto and Peel police declined to release further details, citing a court-ordered publication ban in place to protect the integrity of ongoing judicial proceedings.