A major identity forgery operation has been uncovered in the Parc-Extension neighbourhood of Montreal, where Sûreté du Québec (SQ) investigators seized nearly 1,000 counterfeit identification cards and an array of high-end forgery equipment in what police are calling one of the most elaborate setups they’ve ever seen.
During a raid carried out on March 21, officers from the SQ’s Economic Crimes Unit entered a commercial building on Chabanel Street, close to Parc Avenue, and arrested a 40-year-old man believed to be operating the forgery lab. Though he was later released pending further investigation, the discovery has shed light on a sophisticated counterfeiting network that may have links to various forms of fraud and immigration-related crimes.
The seized fake documents included an astonishing variety of ID types: driver’s licenses from nearly every Canadian province, Quebec and Ontario health insurance cards, Social Insurance Numbers, permanent residency cards, Indian status cards, and firearms permits. Investigators also uncovered counterfeit debit and credit cards, all produced with a level of precision rarely seen by law enforcement.
Police recovered a significant cache of equipment used in the production of fake documents:
- Over two dozen specialized printers
- Embossing and laminating machines
- A laser engraver and a counterfeit bill detector
- Boxes of blank cards and holographic overlays
- Prepackaged envelopes containing multiple IDs under the same name
- Computers and mobile devices, some of which were actively running at the time of the raid
- Two safes filled with forged IDs and fake credit cards
- More than $1,000 in cash
Authorities believe the forged documents may have been used not only for financial fraud but also for bypassing immigration systems or gaining access to restricted services.
The raid highlights growing concerns about the use of neighbourhoods like Parc-Extension—one of Montreal’s most densely populated and culturally diverse areas—as operational hubs for criminal activity. With its mix of residential and commercial spaces and a high turnover of newcomers to Canada, officials suggest the area presents both opportunity and cover for organized networks to quietly operate.
Investigators are continuing to analyze the seized equipment and digital data to determine the full extent of the operation. The SQ has confirmed that more arrests could follow as they work to dismantle the wider network believed to be behind the counterfeit scheme.
