Fresh details are emerging about how detectives from York Regional Police went about investigating wide-ranging allegations of corruption involving officers from the Toronto Police Service.

New details unsealed by an Ontario judge lay out how York Region officers were able to eavesdrop on suspects by bugging vehicles and intercepting calls, eventually leading to the arrests of seven current Toronto police officers and one retired officer, among others.

The investigation, dubbed Project South, began after the alleged attempted murder of a high-ranking employee at the Toronto South Detention Centre in June 2025.

The name of the jail guard, among many other details, is subject to a publication ban, although scores of other revelations can now be made public.

A consortium of media outlets, including Global News, went to court seeking the release of information contained in documents comprising an Information to Obtain — or “ITO” for short. An ITO contains police observations presented to a judge in order to obtain a search warrant.

That document is almost 300 pages long and exhaustively details the investigators’ theory of how the suspected hit on the jail guard was allegedly orchestrated from within the Toronto South Detention Centre.

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The vast majority of its contents, however, remain under a publication ban.

It details how police used listening devices and intercepted calls, among other measures, to piece together their central allegations that Toronto officers had connections to organized crime.

York Regional Police wrote in the document that their investigation “demonstrates a broader pattern of corruption, misuse of police authority, and facilitation of criminal activity.”

The investigation also draws connections to ex-Olympian and accused drug lord Ryan Wedding as well as a gun-for-hire network.

As part of the investigation, it is alleged that Const. Timothy Barnhardt and other Toronto police officers tapped into unauthorized information.

“In short, the investigation has uncovered a number of police officers who, at the request of their civilian associations, improperly accessed confidential police databases, retrieved sensitive information … and then disclosed that information,” York Regional Police alleged.

“Collectively, these matters demonstrate a broader pattern of corruption, misuse of police authority, and facilitation of criminal activity linked to the primary investigation.”

The ITO was written seeking permission for search warrants to comb through tablets, phones and other electronic devices belonging to various people, including Peel Regional Police officers and a corrections officer.

“Cellular and other personal devices are prevalent in our society, and I have reasonable grounds to believe, based on evidence outlined in this ITO, that the targets were using cell phones and other electronic devices in connection with the offences,” an excerpt of the document claimed.

The charges against Barnhardt, who remains in custody after twice being denied bail, and others have not been proven in court.

News organizations will be back in court seeking the release of more documents in the case on July 30.

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