(Montreal) The creation of a police force dedicated to combating the export of stolen vehicles to the port of Montreal “is worth thinking about,” says the commissioner of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), Mike Duheme.
The police chief made these remarks on Wednesday during a press conference to announce new sums to fight this “scourge”, two weeks after a national summit on this issue.
He was then accompanied by federal ministers Dominic LeBlanc and Pablo Rodriguez, the mayor of Montreal, Valérie Plante, and the director of the Montreal Police Service (SPVM), Fady Dagher.
The difficulty of opening the containers where stolen cars are stored in the Port of Montreal was highlighted following the national summit held in Ottawa. Several actors sharing different responsibilities that are sometimes complicated to coordinate.
PHOTO PATRICK SANFAÇON, THE PRESS
The director of the SPVM, Fady Dagher
Will the creation of a police force dedicated to operations at the port therefore not be justified?
“Are we better served by a joint team or do we go with a completely different entity,” RCMP Commissioner Mike Duheme wondered aloud on Wednesday. “All options are on the table. There is no option crazier than another, but which one would have the best impact? »
Ottawa announced on Wednesday a new sum of 15 million dedicated to the fight against vehicle theft. This amount is in addition to the 28 million granted earlier this month to the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) to enable it to increase its capacity to detect and search containers carrying stolen vehicles.
Connected system
More precisely, the investment revealed on Wednesday is divided as follows:
- $9.1 million will be distributed across the various provincial, territorial and municipal police forces;
- $2.4 million will be used to “mobilize [les] national and international partners” of Canada to ensure a “coordinated” response to this issue;
- $3.5 million will be dedicated to “sharing information with Interpol to improve investigations to find stolen parts and vehicles that end up abroad.”
On this last point, Mike Duheme confirmed that the Canadian Police Information Center (CPIC), where information on stolen vehicles in the country is kept, was now connected to Interpol systems.
“In the last seven days, we know that 24 countries around the world have carried out checks on cars in our system,” he explained.
Wednesday’s announcement also comes a few hours after an operation carried out in Terrebonne by the SPVM which led to the arrest of nine individuals who face approximately 130 counts of vehicle theft, conspiracy, receiving stolen property, breaking and entering and others. charges related to possession of weapons and drugs.