Police from Mississauga to Montreal are looking for answers and tips in the carjacking

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The bad news for owners of high-end cars in the GTA is that the area is the number one target for thieves in the country. But thanks to a multi-jurisdictional police initiative called Project Vector, investigators are making headway in the war against car theft.

The project, led by the OPP and the Canada Border Services Agency (with representatives from more than a dozen police forces, including Durham Police), opened nearly 400 shipping containers at the Port of Montreal between December and March. restoring 598 vehicles at a cost of $34.5 million.

The majority of stolen vehicles are destined for resale markets in Asia, Europe, Africa, the Middle East and South America, and nearly three-quarters of recovered vehicles came from the GTA, including 215 from Toronto, 125 from Peel, and 58 from York. Area, 19 from Halton and 15 from Durham.

Local and international organized crime groups are behind most of the thefts, and at a Project Vector news conference in Montreal on April 3, Durham Police Deputy Chief Dean Bertrim said there are at least 78 organized crime groups involved in car theft. Canada.

“These crimes are organized by smaller organized crime groups and large organized crime groups that use people to facilitate the theft of stolen vehicles and their transport to ports and borders,” Bertrim explained, adding that “there is a strong possibility and belief that there will be a high level.” These thefts directly or indirectly finance terrorism and high-level crime such as human, drug and arms trafficking.

“Obviously, the massive increase (car theft) is linked to organized crime, and it feeds international organized crime and terrorism. Preventing this revenue stream will reduce funding for other criminal industries.”

Bertrim also offered some tips for keeping your car out of the hands of organized criminals, starting with a “layered,” multi-pronged auto-prevention approach.

“The first level of auto theft prevention,” Bertrim said, involves simple steps like parking in a garage, keeping your car in a well-lit area, and parking a high-quality car in the driveway in front of other cars (when possible). ) and using security cameras as a “distraction”.

It is also important to ensure that the windows and doors of the vehicle are always locked and that the keys are kept away from the front door, as well as: “Do not leave the vehicle running with the keys inside.”

The second level of auto theft prevention, he said, includes “proactive steps” such as steering lock systems, pedal locks and port locks to prevent hacking of the vehicle's computer.

A third level of auto theft prevention is used after market devices such as an immobilizer (to prevent it from starting when the engine is on), simple tracking systems (Apple or Samsung tags) and immersive tracking services.

Some of those steps involved spending cash, but if you have a vehicle worth $100,000 or more, they're steps thieves can easily make their money on if they're desperate, he said.

Ongoing education and community support are also important to help prevent car theft, he said, and Durham police have partnered with General Motors and the Équité community to create a platform to help “disrupt” car theft in the region.

Governments, especially the federal government and the judiciary, must play a role in stopping the export of stolen vehicles:

• Collaboration and cooperation between automotive industry leaders, suppliers and police services
• Tougher penalties for organized crime and car theft offenders by denying “catch and release”.
• More police units are focused on investigating and cracking down on car theft organizations such as Project Vector, the Provincial Vehicle Recovery Task Force and Durham's own project outfit.
• Increased funding to patrol high-risk areas, borders and ports (On February 21, Ottawa announced $9.1 million to fight organized crime)
• Interagency cooperation and resource sharing

Bertrim also cited another federal fund providing $3.5 million for enhanced information sharing and investigative tactics to identify and recover stolen vehicles worldwide through the Interpol project, as well as the recent GTA Auto Summit hosted by Peel Police in March.

He said this cooperation would help “stop the root cause of organized crime before it is passed on to smaller gangs.”

Despite all this, a car is stolen every five minutes in Ontario and about 1.5 million shipping containers pass through the Port of Montreal each year, so police and border agents are at loggerheads.

Baby steps, said OPP Deputy Commissioner Marty Kearns at a news conference in Montreal. “Project Vector has disrupted criminal networks that use the Canadian export market to sell stolen vehicles,” explained Kearns.

Durham Police Chief Peter Moreira is also optimistic. “Durham Regional Police is proud to assist partner agencies in the fight against vehicle theft in our region and across our province as part of Project Vector. This announcement is the latest development in our ongoing work to address this critical issue.”

More than $1 billion in auto theft insurance claims were made in Ontario last year as the number of auto thefts hit a record high. In a 30-day period earlier this year, more than 7,660 vehicles were reported stolen from 506 in Mississauga and Brampton — an average of 17 a day, according to Peel police.

With files from Ryan Rumboldt

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