Over 30 stolen vehicles have been seized in the Montreal area, along with tens of thousands of dollars in cash, following raids by multiple Quebec police departments.
According to spokesperson Nicolas Scholtus of the Sûreté du Québec, the investigation that led to the seizure first began in March.
Police searched buildings and vehicles in the Montreal area on Thursday that were suspected to be linked to a criminal gang responsible for exporting stolen vehicles.
Police also discovered CAD $17,000 and more than USD $35,000 and six cellphones during the raid.
Officers from various police forces collaborated on the bust, including Montreal police devoted to fighting organized crime and provincial police.
The Port of Montreal, Canada’s second-largest port, has become a hotbed for the exportation of stolen vehicles, many of which are brought to Quebec after being stolen in Ontario.
Between last December and March, police have recovered around 600 stolen vehicles from shipping containers at the Montreal port, the bulk of which originated in the Greater Toronto Area.
According to the insurance fraud prevention group Équité Association, the rate of stolen vehicles is finally beginning to decline, with the agency reporting a 36% drop in the first six months of 2024, compared to that same time period last year.
The drop in thefts is likely due to several investigations launched last December by the Canada Border Service Agency in collaboration with various police departments.
Investigators involved with Project Vector, a multi-jurisdictional investigation announced the recovery of 598 stolen vehicles in April.
Of the 598 vehicles recovered under Project Vector, 483 were from Ontario and the remaining 115 were stolen within Quebec.
Police at that press conference confirmed that a vehicle was stolen every five minutes in Canada, meaning that about 135,360 vehicles have been stolen in Canada from January to April of this year.
Additionally, Peel Regional Police recently arrested three men in an auto theft bust involving 20 stolen high-end trucks worth a combined estimated value of $1.8 million.
That raid was conducted in Brampton and Bolton, Ont. and the three alleged auto thieves now face a total of 38 charges.
The joint probe was launched by the Canada Border Services Agency and Peel Regional Police’s Commercial Auto Crime Bureau.
Another reason for an increase in stolen vehicles being recovered is linked to the RCMP integrating the Canadian Police Information Centre’s stolen vehicle data into the Interpol database, the International Criminal Police Organization.
Since integrating the data in February, more than 1,500 Canadian vehicles have been detected worldwide.
Interpol confirmed in a news release that Canada ranks among the top 10 countries in hits received through the stolen motor vehicle database this year, out of the 137 countries connected worldwide.
