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The latest arrest was among several ongoing investigations related to token fraud currently being conducted by Toronto police. Detective Humeniuk could not confirm where the recent batch of counterfeit tokens came from, but explained that information from confidential sources has led him to believe that the tokens may have been manufactured in China.

Sgt. Mark Russell also mentioned the possibility of tokens coming from China during an interview.

“All it takes is sending a Purolator package with 2 TTC tokens to a stamping facility in Guangzhou City, and they’ll duplicate it,” he said. “They might not use the same alloys, but as long as we rely on visual verification, then it’s going to happen.”

TTC spokesperson Brad Ross reiterated the concerns about visual inspections, saying that “counterfeit slugs” and paper tickets are difficult to detect, and cost the city roughly $1.5 million each year.

“Unfortunately with tokens, once they are dropped into the fare box, there’s nothing we can do to retrieve them at that point,” said Ross. “It’s a visual inspection by the collector, and nobody has a keen enough eye to differentiate a counterfeit token from a real token, unless it’s obviously crude.”

Sgt. Russell said he couldn’t comment on whether counterfeit investigations have been increasing, but said that the role of TTC investigators changed in 2010 after they lost Special Constable status.

“With the loss of status, our authorities have changed, and its not as feasible for us to do those kinds of investigations,” said Russell.

“Granted, at that time, the quantities were more significant than they are now. Partly as a result of our loss of status, we don’t spend a whole lot of time on it,” he added.

According to Detective Humeniuk, instances of fare fraud decreased significantly after the TTC discontinued adult tickets in 2008.

“It’s one of the reasons the TTC is trying to move towards using the Presto system — to get away from these counterfeit items like tokens and passes,” he said.

“Hopefully that will put an end to this.”