(Hawkesbury) The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) and the Service de police de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM) say they have arrested 31 people in Quebec on outstanding warrants for car thefts and other serious crimes in Ontario.
The arrests are part of Project “Volcano”, an operation led by police forces from Ontario and Quebec which took place over three days this week in the greater Montreal area.
Many of the people targeted by this “Volcano” project are Quebecers who were initially arrested in Ontario for vehicle theft and other crimes, but who did not show up for their appearance in Ontario court.
Ontario Provincial Police say numerous vehicles were stolen in the greater Toronto area, apparently by suspects residing in Quebec who then took the cars to the port of Montreal for export.
OPP Deputy Commissioner for Investigations and Organized Crime Marty Kearns said nearly 3,000 vehicles have been stolen in the past seven weeks in Ontario.
Mr. Kearns told a news conference Friday that police are concerned about how quickly criminals are able to steal cars using various methods to circumvent anti-theft technology.