MONTREAL — Montreal police are warning that criminal groups are recruiting minors through social media, messaging apps and gaming platforms to commit robberies and other dangerous offences.

The warning accompanied an October 2 Global News report about a store robbery in the city’s Mercier–Hochelaga-Maisonneuve borough one day earlier. Police said suspects remained unidentified at publication time.

How recruitment works

The Service de police de la Ville de Montréal says coded online advertisements can present crime as a paid job and use images of cash, luxury goods or status to attract teenagers. The force lists vehicle theft, arson, firearms offences and extortion among the risks associated with criminal exploitation of minors.

Police warn that promised money can turn into threats against recruited teenagers and their families. The SPVM advises adults to learn which platforms and groups young people use and to seek help if they suspect criminal exploitation.

The October 1 robbery remains under investigation. Police have not publicly identified the people responsible, and the wider recruitment warning does not establish that any particular minor committed that offence.

Sources: SPVM guidance on criminal exploitation of minors; Global News, October 2.

Lead image: TNC archive AI-generated public-safety illustration; not a photograph of the October 1 robbery or any suspect.