OPP Recovers More Than 300 Stolen Vehicles in Latest Operation

More than 300 stolen vehicles with a combined value of approximately $25 million were recovered this week as part of Project Chickadee, the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) announced.

Law enforcement has dismantled an auto theft criminal organization by focusing not only on vehicle theft but also on the illegal exportation of stolen vehicles through freight forwarding companies, destined for foreign markets such as the Middle East and West Africa.

The accused include owners and operators of several registered businesses within the freight forwarding sector, as well as individuals allegedly involved in the theft of vehicles across Ontario. The criminal organization and the associated network span internationally.

Project Chickadee began in August 2023 after members of the OPP-led Provincial Auto Theft and Towing (PATT) Team recovered four stolen vehicles in the Greater Toronto Area.

The OPP PATT Team, the OPP Organized Crime Enforcement Bureau (OCEB) and the Canada Border Services Agency Intelligence and Investigations Operations Division (IIOD) jointly continued this investigation. Shipping containers were inspected in transit and at the Port of Montréal, the Port of Vancouver and the Port of Halifax in an effort to halt the shipment of stolen vehicles by this criminal organization.

Équité Association, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) and Halton Regional Police Service (HRPS) provided assistance throughout.

On November 27, search warrants were executed at 23 residential and industrial locations and 13 vehicles in the GTA and surrounding area, including Brampton, Scarborough, Waterloo, Bolton, Oshawa, Oakville, Mississauga, Innisfil, Toronto, and Milton, as well as one search warrant in Saint-Eustache, Québec.

Twenty individuals have been arrested and charged with 134 offences contrary to the Criminal Code, the Customs Act and the Cannabis Act.