(Toronto) Toronto police announced Wednesday the recovery of 48 stolen vehicles and the arrest of seven people, in one of their latest attempts to tighten the screws against the growing problem of car theft.
Investigators said information gathered during a drug and weapons trafficking investigation launched last April led them to open a second investigation in August, focusing on stolen vehicles. The two operations resulted in 150 charges being laid against those arrested, police said.
Staff Superintendent Pauline Gray said the Greater Toronto Area has seen an increase in car thefts and related crimes.
“The Toronto Police Service has repeatedly addressed the massive increase in auto thefts in Toronto and the Greater Toronto Area and how this is contributing to an increase in violent home invasions, violent robberies and armed violence throughout the region,” she said.
“Auto theft is one of the top three sources of revenue for organized crime groups, and it is not a problem that police services can solve alone. »
In the investigations invoked Wednesday — called “Project Specter” and “Project Paranoid” — Mme Gray said Toronto police are working with the Canada Border Services Agency, Halton Region Police and York Region Police.
During the operations, 20 stolen vehicles were seized from a shipper in Burlington, Ontario, while another 20 were intercepted with the assistance of border agents in Toronto and Montreal. Police said undercover agents purchased five of the other vehicles seized as part of the investigation. Three other vehicles were located during the execution of search warrants.
Several businesses in the Greater Toronto Area were identified as places where stolen vehicles were stored and sold before being shipped overseas, police said.
Several firearms were also seized as part of the investigations.
As police continue to battle car theft, Pauline Gray maintained that officers have received training on vehicle theft prevention from the Équité Association, an independent national organization focused on combating fraud and insurance crime.
Bryan Gast, vice-president of the Equity Association, said the vehicles targeted by criminal groups in Ontario are newer and more valuable than ever.
He added that car theft insurance claim costs in Ontario have increased by 319 per cent since 2020.
“For the first time, Ontario experienced more than $1 billion in car theft claim costs in a single year in 2023, up from $700 million in 2022,” she said. he mentioned.