Nearly 500 Ontario cars recovered in Montreal

More than 480 vehicles stolen from Ontario over the past three months have been recovered in the Port of Montreal, police and the Canada Border Services Agency say.

“We’ve taken $34.5 million out of the pockets of organized crime,” said Marty Kearns, deputy commissioner of the Ontario Provincial Police, in a Wednesday news conference in Montreal.

In total, police and the CBSA say they recovered 598 stolen vehicles in Project Vector, with the remaining 115 stolen from Quebec.

Many of the recovered vehicles were taken from the GTA in carjackings and home invasions, both of which have spiked in recent months. The vehicles seized include 215 recently taken from Toronto, 125 from Peel Region, 58 from York, 19 from Halton, 15 from Durham, 12 from Ottawa, seven from Hamilton, six from Niagara and five from Waterloo, police said.

The stolen vehicles were bound for Asia, Europe, Africa, the Middle East and South America, Kearns said.

The operation was also supported by GTA police forces, the Sûreté du Québec, Montréal police and Équité Association.

Since December, investigators have inspected 390 shipping containers, however, no arrests have yet been made.

“We’re not done,” Kearns said. “We anticipate arrests and charges in the near future.”

He added: “Today is important.” The work done by border services officers is “making a real difference in securing the supply chain and disrupting criminal activity at our borders,” said the CBSA’s Annie Beauséjour.

“Let the criminals rest assured: together, we’ll keep up the pressure,” said Montréal police Insp. Dominique Côté.

The announcement comes less than a week after Burlington, Vt., police issued a warning to drivers returning from Montreal to check their vehicles for hidden GPS tracking devices. The coin-sized devices allow thieves to target high-end vehicles, and then steal them at their convenience, police said.