Mixed police task force arrests suspects tied to vehicle thefts

A mixed task force including Ontario Provincial Police, the Quebec provincial force and municipal officers from Toronto and Montreal has arrested almost three dozen suspects as police attempt to stem a flood of stolen vehicles, mostly between southern Ontario and the Port of Montreal.

The majority of the arrests took place in an operation in Montreal between Tuesday and Thursday.

“The arrested individuals were wanted in relation to auto theft incidents that occurred in Ontario between March 2019 to September 2023,” OPP said in a news release.

Senior police officials at a news conference Friday said the carjacking task force, dubbed “Project Volcano,” was a “major interprovincial operation.”

OPP Deputy Commissioner Marty Kearns said at the briefing that almost 3,000 vehicles had been stolen in Ontario in the past seven weeks alone.

Since October 2023, 121 suspects have been arrested, 730 offences have been recorded and 157 vehicles have been recovered, Kearns said.

At a federal summit on car theft last month, OPP Commissioner Thomas Carrique said most vehicles stolen in Ontario “make their way to the Port of Montreal, and the profits are between $60,000 and $80,000 estimated per (shipping) container, and then are sold overseas and can sell for more than double their value.”

According to a report released last year by the Équité Association, a national non-profit organization aiming to reduce and prevent insurance fraud and crime, during 2022 insurers lost more than $1 billion in stolen vehicles for the first time in Canadian history.

“For those provinces where data was available, Canadians witnessed double-digit increases in vehicle theft in 2022,” the report stated.

Project Volcano remains ongoing. Anyone with any information about auto theft or about the whereabouts of wanted individuals is urged to call their local police service.

If that is the OPP, call 1-888-3101122. Anonymous tips can be made to Crime Stoppers at 1-800-2228477 or online at ontariocrimestoppers.ca.