48 stolen vehicles recovered in undercover bust: Toronto police

Toronto police say officers seized 48 stolen vehicles as part of an undercover auto theft investigation dubbed Project Paranoid.

Investigators displayed some of the vehicles, along with six recovered firearms and several programmed and unprogrammed key fobs, at a news conference Wednesday.

Police say information gathered in April 2023 during a separateundercover drug and gun trafficking investigation, Project Spectre, led them to launch a second investigation in August that year focused on stolen vehicles.

"Project Paranoid demonstrates the resources that the Toronto Police Service is dedicating to tackling the auto theft epidemic and the positive results of this work,"Toronto police Staff Supt. Pauline Graytold reporters.

"It also demonstrates the importance of collaboration among stakeholders to address an issue that is impacting thewell-being of all of our communities."

They say 20 of the recovered vehicles were seized at a shipping location in Burlington, while another 20 were intercepted with the help of border agents in Toronto and Montreal.

Between the two undercover investigations, police say they have arrested seven people and laid 150 charges.

The investigation was funded through a provincial grant and Criminal Intelligence Service Ontario.

In a news release, Toronto police say thestolen vehicles were being stored at several businesses in the Greater Toronto Area beforebeing sold and being shipped overseas, or before being re-vinned and registered to be re-sold.

"These vehicles were purchased, re-vinned and re-registered, which is kind of the first time in law enforcement that this has been done," saidToronto police Supt. Steve Watts.

Re-vinning a car allows a suspect to change the car's Vehicle Identification Number (VIN), replacing it with a different number to give it a false sense of legitimacy.

Thousands of stolen vehicles being recovered: police

Graysaid Project Paranoid is just one of many investigations that have led to the recovery of stolen vehicles in Ontario over the last year or so.

"In 2023, police services in our province worked together to recover 15,000 stolen vehicles valued at over half a billion dollars," she said.

Just last week, Toronto police Chief Myron Demkiw said a car was stolen "every 40 minutes" in Toronto in 2023, adding more than 12,000 vehicles were stolen in Toronto that year.

quit Association, a national organization focused on preventing fraud and auto thefts, said it offered its assistance to police as part of Project Paranoid.

"In Canada, a vehicle is stolen every five minutes," said Bryan Gast, the vice-president of investigative services at quit. "The vehicles that the organized crime groups are targeting in Ontario are newer and have greater value than ever before."

Gast says it's important to stop auto theft in the communitybefore stolen cars make their way to the Canadian ports to be shipped overseas.

The province and federal government are bothworking to fight auto theft across Ontario.

In the 2024 provincial budget tabled by the finance minister on Tuesday, $46 million wasallocated for the purchase of four police helicopters, which will primarily be used by police forces in the Greater Toronto Area.

"We're getting into the area of police pursuits which are high risk," saidWatts.

"We're getting to the area of suspects that are driving with complete disregard for everyone on the roadway. A helicopter is a huge asset. Air support is a huge asset."

At anational auto theft summit held in Ottawa last month, auto industry representatives urged the federalgovernment to increase penalties for auto theftto make the risk for thieves outweigh the reward. The federal justice minister said he wouldconsider it.

At the summit, industry representatives also called on the government to strengthen enforcement at Canadian ports.