Quebec police bust sophisticated forged documents operation, arrest three

MONTREAL — Quebec provincial police arrested three people on Tuesday in connection with what they described as a sophisticated counterfeit ID and credit card operation that officers had dismantled last year.

The force’s economic crimes division said two men aged 34 and 42 were arrested in the Montreal suburbs of Repentigny and Laval, and face charges of production of counterfeit documents and identity theft. Later Tuesday, police announced that a third man, 27, was arrested in Montreal.

In March 2025, provincial police conducted a raid on an alleged clandestine document production lab on Chabanel Street in Montreal.

In an interview Tuesday, Sgt. Valérie Beauchamp said the forged documents from the lab were of “very high quality, making detection particularly difficult without specialized equipment.”

“It’s quite impressive to see the quality of these forgeries.”

In the 2025 raid, police seized items including driver’s licences, Canadian residency cards, Quebec health insurance cards, debit and credit cards, and social insurance cards. Some of the identification documents were foreign, including from Great Britain.

Provincial police say 2,400 identities were stolen to create fake documents. Thus far, provincial police have sent letters to 1,900 people, alerting them to the theft.

Last march police also seized multiple pieces of equipment, including embossing machines, punching machines, a laser engraver, specialized printers and a laminator. They also found boxes filled with blank cards and holograms.

“Nearly 1,000 forged documents and sophisticated equipment used to manufacture them were seized,” Beauchamp said.

Police say the fake documents were sold for $250 to $300 each, usually provided in a delay of 24 to 48 hours, Beauchamp said.

While police began their investigation one year ago, Beauchamp said the principle suspect in the case had been operating since 2019.

All three men were expected to appear virtually on Tuesday at the courthouse in Joliette, Que., northeast of Montreal to be arraigned.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 17, 2026.

Sidhartha Banerjee, The Canadian Press