Ontario Police Recovered Over 200 Stolen Vehicles Worth $11M In A Huge Bust (VIDEO)
Over 20 people have been arrested and here's how police say they did it.
Officers from several police branches across the GTA have recovered over 200 stolen vehicles and arrested 24 people in a massive operation called Project High 5.
Peel Regional Police, alongside Halton Regional Police, York Regional Police, the Ontario Provincial Police, and several other law-enforcement agencies, uncovered 217 stolen vehicles during a six-month investigation, according to the January 27 press release. All together, the cost of the stolen goods came out to $11.1 million.
Project High 5 kicked off after officers saw more and more vehicles in Peel Region and the GTA were being stolen from residents.
So, how were thieves stealing these cars?
"It is alleged that suspects forced open the driver's door and obtained access to the vehicle's On Board Diagnostic Port (OBD). Once this was achieved, they utilized key programming devices to program a new aftermarket key fob. These were not the result of relay thefts and were captured by victims and neighbouring residences on home security," officers wrote.
According to officers, vehicles were typically stolen in residential neighbourhoods when car owners were asleep. Then, the cars would get loaded up into a shipping container and sent out to the U.S. or overseas to West African and Middle Eastern countries.
Project High 5 - English www.youtube.com
Investigators also saw that the vehicles were fraudulently registered in the province, and sold to unassuming car dealerships, online dealer platforms, and buyers.
"Police identified vehicles that had been exported previously and registered with cloned Vehicle Identification Numbers and further vehicles were recovered throughout the province and North America," the release reads.
So, what cars were the most popular during these robberies?
The most sought-after cars for thieves are Toyota Highlanders, Honda CRVs, Ford F150s, Range Rovers, and Lexus SUVs, all of which are produced by the same company, the Equite Association.
On January 19, investigators put out nine residential warrants across Peel, Halton, and York regions, and arrested 24 people in connection to the author theft ring, and placed 321 charges altogether. They also uncovered some drugs, a loaded firearm, over $100,000 of Canadian bills, and forged documents.
"The reality is, this isn't the end of the investigation but the beginning of a partnership between us and our community to do everything that we can to prevent vehicle theft from continuing to impact our community safety," Deputy Chief of Investigative and Emergency Services for Peel Regional Police, Nick Milinovich, said in the Project High 5 video.