A coordinated operation between several police forces in the port of Montreal made it possible to find 598 vehicles stolen since last December, 75% of which came from Ontario.
The operation, dubbed Project Vector, resulted in the inspection of 390 shipping containers and the recovery of vehicles worth $34.5 million. Of the total, 483 were stolen in Ontario and 115 in Quebec.
“It is no secret that stolen vehicles are destined for export to Europe, Africa, the Middle East and South America,” said Marc Hemmerick, an inspector with the Ontario Provincial Police, who spoke in a garage near the Port of Montreal, where several vehicles recovered by the Canada Border Services Agency are stored.
Several representatives of Ontario police forces participating in Project Vector traveled to the Quebec metropolis on Wednesday morning to take stock of the operation.
“Our work is far from finished,” warned Inspector Hemmerick, according to whom numerous arrests are expected following the seizures of stolen vehicles. Mr. Hemmerick said investigators already know that some of the vehicles have been linked to violent crimes such as robberies and home invasions with assaults.
Benoit Dubé, deputy director general responsible for criminal investigations at the Sûreté du Québec, added that in parallel with the Vector project, around thirty police officers from the Mixed Regional Squad of the North Shore of Montreal have devoted their efforts to the networks thieves and exporters for two months, which made it possible to find 200 additional vehicles.
“After two months, this strategy is already paying off,” he says.
Dominique Côté, inspector with the City of Montreal Police Department, explained for his part that vehicle thefts decreased by around 30% in the metropolis during the first quarter of 2024. “We remain cautiously optimistic in the face of these figures, which may change,” he said, emphasizing that Montreal police officers are present every week at the port for vehicle recovery operations.