IT now appears expensive fragrances have become as attractive as gold for robbers from Ontario to British Columbia and owners of stores dealing with these should pay special attention to this trend and take security measures.

Last Monday, Richmond RCMP announced that they were seeking assistance to identify seven suspects – all Middle Eastern males aged 16 to 20 – in the alleged theft of over $2,400 worth of fragrances on November 11, 2024, in the 3800-block of Steveston Highway.

Police were advised that the suspects entered and exited within one minute, only targeting fragrances within the makeup department.

And in Ontario, police announced on Thursday that three Toronto males – two 19-year-olds and one 16-year-old – face 75 charges in connection with nine retail robberies in Toronto and in York, Durham and Halton regions between January 8 and February 12 in which approximately $200,000 worth of fragrances in total were allegedly taken.

Toronto Police said in a press release that it is alleged that in each incident, several suspects, travelling in a stolen vehicle, attended retail stores wearing masks to conceal their identities. They entered the premises armed with hammers, smashed glass display cases and took a quantity of high-end fragrances before fleeing the areas in the stolen vehicle.

A collaborative multi-jurisdictional investigation led to the identification and arrest of the three suspects that were allegedly involved in the robberies.

In both the Ontario and B.C. incidents, the alleged robbers were all young males.