Grand theft auto seems to be at an all time high in the recent years. It seems to be the crime of choice, resulting in little risk. Most of all, it’s very profitable. The only problem is, how do you find a buyer for a stolen vehicle? Do you chop the vehicle so that it becomes unrecognizable? Or sell it in another country? Either one involves a numerous amount of people and honest participation.
Criminals in Montreal seem to have found the right people who are willing to be involved in the whole operation. It doesn’t just come down to being willing, but what do you bring to the table? Do you own a garage? Shipping containers? Or have a shipping company? Maybe you’re a hood rat fond of joyrides, jumping cars as a past time. It requires people who know what they’re doing.
Since the country of Canada held a car theft summit in Ottawa on February 7th, binding city police services with insurance companies, the RCMP and Canadian Border Services Agency altogether. It seems seizures are starting to become a weekly occurrence. 54 vehicles seized last week and now 21 more being seized.
This past Wednesday (21/02/2014), a police investigation led to the seizure of 21 vehicles along with 9 arrests with charges relating to 55 different vehicle thefts. The majority of the vehicles seized were SUVs or either truck type vehicles. Most of them being made in the past few years. Some of the vehicles seized included a GMC Yukon, Chevrolet Tahoe, Dodge Durango, Dodge RAM, Ford F150 and Ford Expedition.
It’s no guess that the tricky part is finding a buyer willing to drive a car related to a theft. But does it really matter once the car is an ocean’s away in the Sahara’s of Africa? In the dunes of the Middle East? or in the cities of Italy? Hence, they need to find an exporter. And a car isn’t very concealable, most times, they’re blatantly out in the open. It’s clear as day, that Montreal criminals have found exporters willing to be part of this phenomenon.
We have seen vehicles concealed in shipping containers in the Port of Montreal, others in rented yards but a new technique has been unveiled this Wednesday. Police had seized 11 of the 21 vehicles in the parking of an airport, more specifically, the Pierre Elliot Trudeau airport in Montreal. Although the airport is equipped with security, few follow up on cars parked there too long. Criminals would use these parking lots to let the freshly stolen cars, cool off, before eventually shipping them over seas.
The 21 cars seized estimated a resale value of about 1.7 million dollars. The investigation involved vehicle thefts not only in Montreal, but also in the surrounding regions of Mascouche, Terrebonne, Saint-Felix-de-Lavois, Saint-Lin-des-Laurentides, Saint Esprit and Sainte-Julienne. Most thefts involved in this operation were either stolen in rental car lots or in airport parking lots.
6 suspects related to this operation appeared in court a few hours after the seizure. The individuals included;
- Anthony Bernier-Dallaire, 26.
- Sebastien Richer, 33.
- Gilles Michaud, 63.
- Sebastien Parent-Germain, 33.
- Jimmy Theriault, 34.
- Yannick Turcotte, 26.
The seizures include;
- 2 Vehicles (19 of which were seized in the investigations).
- 2 Loaded firearms.
- Around 40,000$ in cash money.
- An ounce of cocaine and 8 pounds of marijuana.
- Tools that are associated with car thefts.
This seizure comes before the news that Ottawa announced they were going to finance 15 million dollars to fight the up-peak in car thefts happening recently in the country.
