Police in Ontario have put a major dent in an international auto theft ring. They’ve recovered more than 300 stolen vehicles and dismantled an organized criminal network that’s believed to have been stealing hundreds of vehicles in Ontario and sending them overseas.
The commissioner of the Ontario Provincial Police, Thomas Carrique, said the police operation called Project Chickadee focused not only on vehicle thefts, but also on the freight forwarding companies linked to helping in the illegal export of those vehicles to foreign markets.
"What started as a local investigation uncovered a network of international reach shipping stolen vehicles overseas to markets where they sell for double their Canadian value," Carrique said. "This is organized crime on a global scale. And today we have sent a clear message: Ontario will not be a source for criminal profits.”
Carrique said it began when police recovered four stolen vehicles in the Toronto area, and evidence led to the involvement of registered freight forwarding companies and drivers, whom he alleged, used fake shipping documents to move stolen vehicles out of Canada to markets including the Middle East and West Africa. The investigation also led police to the ports of Montreal, Halifax and Vancouver where reported stolen vehicles were intercepted.
Police say in the end the results were significant — 306 stolen vehicles were recovered, worth more than $25 million. Twenty people were arrested and face more than 130 charges including being a member of a criminal organization, money laundering, fraud and other related offences.
Carrique said there’s been a surge in auto thefts in Ontario in recent years from about 17,000 stolen vehicles in 2020 to more than 30,000 in 2023. He said while the thefts of stolen vehicles has been trending downward it remains a problem, costing Canadians more than $1 billion in insurance claims every year.
