Toronto police arrest two men for allegedly carjacking $1.5 million worth of vehicles

Police say the suspects are likely responsible for 19 carjackings that took place in the Greater Toronto Area between March and April.

Police say the suspects would target high-end SUVs, and would then follow vehicles until they stopped at intersections or even at their homes.

"One can only imagine the trauma a victim would go through being subjected to a robbery like this. These are violent, violent individuals and for the most part the victims were minding their own business going about their regular routines and ambushed by these two violent individuals," said Insp. Rich Harris during a news conference on Tuesday morning, according to CP24.

"The lasting effects I can only make a guess. But it does have lasting psychological impacts on the victims."

Harris said that victims were subjected to "unprovoked physical attacks" whether they complied with the carjackers or not.

He said that 17 vehicles have been recovered from the robbers, but that the suspects had intended to sell the vehicles "illicit businesses across the GTA" or overseas.

He said that the value of the vehicles is somewhere between $1 million to $1.5 million.

"The suspects used extreme violence towards the victims while committing these acts with the sole intention of stealing these vehicles for profit," he said.

"This is by no means a concluded investigation, it is still ongoing. I can’t get too deep into it but as it stands we are still looking for some outstanding people."

Merrick Beddaoui, 22, of Toronto, and Christopher Ugochukwu, 19, of Toronto, were arrested on April 11. They face more than 90 charges in connection with the carjackings.

Police say they found an illegal handgun after arresting the pair.