Truckjackers head for Alberta, report says
A new report suggests that Alberta is a favourite dumping ground for cars stolen in other provinces.
High-end vehicles are being snatched by organized crime units in Quebec and Atlantic Canada and sold to unsuspecting victims in Calgary and Edmonton with altered vehicle identification numbers, according to the Insurance Bureau of Canada.
Trucks are in big demand across the province, so thieves are routing the vehicles away from eastern ports and selling them in Alberta instead, said Rick Dubin, the group’s vice-president of investigative services.
In particular, it’s believed that Ford F-250 and F-350 trucks are turning up here.
“They’re not showing up at the ports (of Halifax and Montreal) and we’ve been to B.C. and they aren’t going there either,” Dubin noted.
“If they aren’t being exported, we can only presume the trucks are going to Alberta because there is a huge demand for them.”
Vehicle thefts are declining across the country — in part because electronic immobilizers and other gad- gets make newer models harder for thieves to swipe.
Dubin says that more than 13,000 cars and trucks were stolen in Alberta last year at a cost of about $43 million. Only half of those vehicles were ever recovered by police.
“We all pay for auto theft in the form of higher premiums,” he said. “It threatens the safety and security of everyone on the road.”
But Staff Sgt. Robert Rutledge of Calgary Police Service said he’s puzzled by the suggestion from insurers that stolen vehicles from Quebec and the Atlantic provinces are ending up here.
“We’re not seeing that at all,” said Rutledge, who works in the organized crime unit.
“Five to 10 years ago we did notice an influx of vehicles coming from the east but now we have our own crooks doing it.”
Of the 45 to 50 vehicles recovered in Calgary with phoney vehicle registration numbers, Rutledge said only one came from out of province: Saskatchewan.
Law enforcement authorities say consumers should buy used cars and trucks only from reputable dealers or have it inspected by a trusted mechanic if purchasing it privately.
On Thursday, the insurance bureau released its annual list of mostfrequently stolen vehicles across the country. Sitting in first place and second place, respectively, are the 2000 and 1999 two-door Honda Civic SiR, followed by the 2006 4WD Chevrolet Trailblazer.