ID fraud done in a daycare

Hundreds of police officers have raided locations in the greater Montreal region and Ontario — including at least three daycares — as part of a major crackdown on international fraud.

The RCMP said at least 400 officers fanned out in Montreal, Laval, LongueuilLongueuil and Ontario at 6 a.m. Wednesday to execute 39 search warrants.

Police are seeking 32 suspects, who were allegedly part of a ring that produced fake identification, including passports, driver's licences and credit cards, the RCMP said at a news conference in Montreal.

At least three Montreal daycares, including two government-subsidized centres and one institutional daycare were raided because police believe they housed "a lab involved in the production of false documents," said RCMP Sgt. Luc Bessette. "I can assure you that the safety of children was never compromised."

Montreal police officers were on hand at the Bébé Tilly centre in Rivière-des-Prairies to greet parents dropping their children off for the day.

"Their world was a bit topsy-turvy this morning, but we are telling them that the raids have nothing to do directly with the daycares, and at no time was their children's safety compromised," Montreal police spokesman Ian Lafrenière told French news network LCN.

The ring operated in several countries outside Canada, and Wednesday's raids "have rendered it inoperable," said Bessette. But police wouldn't provide any more details before an afternoon news conference.

three Montreal-area daycares were searched:

• Garderie Bébé Lilly Inc. 11854 Rivière-des-Prairies Blvd.
• A daycare at 7211 8th Ave.
• A daycare at 7451 19th Ave.