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Major Police Operation Leads to Recovery of 214 Stolen Vehicles, State Employees Involved

Canadian police concluded a major investigation into vehicle theft and resale operations, which led to the arrest of 28 people and the recovery of 214 stolen vehicles. Employees of ServiceOntario were involved in the thefts, helping organized crime to modify VINs and register the stolen cars.
Major police operation leads to recovery of 214 stolen vehicles 9 photos
Photo: OPP via Facebook
Major police operation leads to recovery of 214 stolen vehiclesMajor police operation leads to recovery of 214 stolen vehiclesMajor police operation leads to recovery of 214 stolen vehiclesMajor police operation leads to recovery of 214 stolen vehiclesMajor police operation leads to recovery of 214 stolen vehiclesMajor police operation leads to recovery of 214 stolen vehiclesMajor police operation leads to recovery of 214 stolen vehiclesMajor police operation leads to recovery of 214 stolen vehicles
Car thieves are stepping up their nefarious activities, as every police report in the past two years shows. Even though recovering the stolen vehicles is not easy, and at times it even proves impossible, police are still working hard on curbing this trend. Several law enforcement agencies started a major operation code-named Project MYRA in Canada in September 2020. The project was created to investigate an auto theft network allegedly modifying stolen vehicles’ VIN numbers.

The investigation took a long time to complete, but in the end, it led to the arrest of 28 people involved. This included ServiceOntario employees, an agency that performs similar services to the American DMV. They were accused of assisting with the fraudulent registration of the stolen vehicles after the criminal network modified their VINs. The cars were then resold through private sales, including to other criminal networks.

The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) have recovered 214 stolen vehicles worth more than 12 million CAD (around 9.33 million USD at current exchange rates). According to CBC, expensive models were the primary target for the auto theft network. Lamborghini Urus, Acura NSX, Audi RS6 Avant, Honda Civic Type R, and Ford F-150 Raptor were among the vehicles recovered, with 37% of the cars stolen being Hondas and Acuras.

Police advise people looking to buy used vehicles to be extremely cautious when purchasing a car through a private sale. Any seller who doesn’t provide identification or other documentation should be treated with suspicion. It is also advised to search the VIN in vehicle databases like CARFAX to establish the car’s history.
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About the author: Cristian Agatie
Cristian Agatie profile photo

After his childhood dream of becoming a "tractor operator" didn't pan out, Cristian turned to journalism, first in print and later moving to online media. His top interests are electric vehicles and new energy solutions.
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