Peel Police Arrest Six Individuals in Butter and Ghee Theft Investigation

Peel police announced the arrests Wednesday after an investigation into a significant increase in stolen butter and ghee last year.

Six people have been arrested in a police probe into more than $60,000 worth of butter and ghee products stolen from grocery stores in Peel Region.

Peel police established Project Flaherty to combat the thefts after investigators became aware of a significant increase in the stolen merchandise last month. Over 180 incidents of stolen butter and ghee-related products were reported, marking a nearly 135 per cent increase compared to 2023, Peel police said in a news release on Wednesday.

Three men in their 20s were charged with possession of property obtained by crime while another three men -- two in their 20s and a 38-year-old man -- were charged with theft under $5,000.

All six are to appear at the Ontario Court of Justice in Brampton, police said.

Large-scale butter thefts have spread beyond Peel Region. By mid-autumn last year, nearly 10 large-scale, butter-related robberies had been reported in Guelph.

Last Oct. 12, two men separately walked into a Guelph, Ont. FreshCo then met up once inside, grabbed a grocery cart and loaded it with three cases of butter -- worth over $900 -- before leaving through a receiving door in the shipping area.

Four days later, on Oct. 16, Guelph police said more than $950 worth of stolen butter was carted out of a grocery store's emergency exit.

And a few months before that, on Aug. 12, another $800 worth of butter was stolen from two separate Guelph grocers.

Police and experts have different theories about where the butter is going, and why it's become a target, ranging from organized crime and black markets to Canada's cost-of-living crisis.

Jesse Merrill, who runs Guelph's Polestar Hearth Bakery, told the Star last October that the answer may be related to whether the stolen butter is salted or unsalted.

Merrill said that if it was salted, the stolen butter may have been sold to individuals because it tends to have more casual, household uses.

If unsalted, it may have been sold to businesses. Merrill said unsalted butter is common amongst bakers because it gives them greater control over the recipe.

Meanwhile, officers in Peel Region are continuing to investigate the thefts, including which businesses are accepting the stolen products.

Anyone with information is asked to contact police at 905-453-2121 ext. 2233 or anonymously through Peel Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.