A 23-year-old female and 30-year-old male have been arrested in connection with what police are describing as a “large suspected identity lab.”
Police say the pair stole people’s identification from residences, vehicles and mailboxes, which allowed them to create phony bank accounts and credit cards.
Police were investigating a string of break-ins in Elmira and other rural communities in the region, which led them to search a home on Regina Street in Waterloo on April 26.
Police said they found firearms, drugs (suspected fentayl and crystal meth), car keys, IDs, credit cards and thousands of dollars in counterfeit bills.
Police are currently sifting through all of the identification documents to determine who the victims were. They say they will then contact those affected. They suspect the number of victims could total into the hundreds.
The two suspects face a myriad of charges, including break and enter, possession of stolen property under $5,000, possession of stolen property over $5,000, uttering a forged document, use and possession of stolen credit card, theft under $5,000, possession of identity documents, possession of counterfeit currency, forgery, identity theft, manufacture counterfeit currency, possession for the purpose of trafficking methamphetamine and possession for the purpose of trafficking fentanyl.
Police say more charges could follow.