Organized crime makes Alberta Canada’s car-theft ‘hot spot’
A “staggering ” number of vehicles continue to be stolen in Alberta — many by crooks with links to organized crime — fuelling the province’s reputation as a hotbed for car thieves.
Speaking to reporters Wednesday at the annual Central Canadian Auto-Theft Association seminar, Edmonton Police Service Det. Dwayne Karpo said on average between 12 and 15 vehicles are stolen each day in Edmonton.
At least half of those are stolen with the keys still in them, he said, and conservatively, about 70 per cent of all car thefts in the city are committed by criminals with ties to organized crime.
“These vehicles are being stolen with a purpose ... and it’s big money,” Karpo said.
“Unfortunately, Edmonton is the hot spot for the province.”
The latest numbers show that a smidgen over 22,800 vehicles were stolen in Alberta, or roughly a quarter of all vehicles stolen across Canada in 2016, and on a per-capita basis, Alberta is behind only Quebec for stolen unrecovered vehicles.
In 2016, an estimated 3,500 vehicles went unrecovered in Alberta, while that number across Canada was closer to 22,000.
The city ’s central location in the province, its easy access to British Columbia and Saskatchewan and a transient population are all to blame for tarnishing the city’s reputation when it comes to car thefts, Karpo said.
Many of the 1,500 unrecovered stolen vehicles each year in Edmonton are being cloned with new vehicle identification numbers to be sold domestically, while some are being shipped overseas to places such as China, Africa and Lebanon, he added.
While Ford F-150s have long been held as the thieves’ vehicle of choice, the thefts are not based on what’s easiest to steal but what is needed, he said.
Car theft costs society millions of dollars each year in premiums and elevated insurance rates, said David Christoffel, Insurance Bureau of Canada’s director of investigative services for Western and Pacific region.
Christoffel described the rate of thefts in Alberta as “staggering.” “We all pay for it,” he said. As for what people can do to avoid having their rides ripped off, the message from police and insurance agencies continues to be one of prevention.
“Lock your car, make sure it’s locked and take the keys with you,” Karpo said.
“Unfortunately, it’s not until the vehicle gets stolen that it really sinks in.”