The Port of Montreal has just had a record year for the number of stolen vehicles found in containers, our Bureau of Investigation has learned.
The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) intercepted no fewer than 1,020 cars and vans worth $47 million in 2021 before they were loaded onto ships.
This is a 25% increase from 2020, when 816 vehicles were seized.
Last year, the number of stolen vehicles on the island of Montreal also skyrocketed, according to the Service de police de la Ville de Montreal (SPVM).
In 2021, 5,732 cars and SUVs were stolen, which is 1,222 more than in 2020.
“The lack of vehicles on the market could partly explain this increase; the demand for vehicles thus becoming market opportunities for criminals,” says the SPVM.
Interviewed on the show Iwhich will be broadcast this evening at 9 p.m. on TVA, the superintendent at the Border Services Agency Yannick Béland affirms that 20 to 30 vehicles per week are recovered at the port.
“We have targeting and intelligence teams that pass on information. We work with police forces and Équité Association, which conducts investigations for the Insurance Bureau of Canada,” he explains.
According to SPVM Commander James Paixao, the vehicle most often found in containers today is the Honda CRV. This model represents about 40% of vehicles stolen in Montreal in 2020, Mr. Paixao said.
A large majority of containers leaving the Port of Montreal with stolen vehicles are destined for the Middle East and Africa, according to Yannick Béland.
Our Bureau of Investigation was able to trace a vehicle from Quebec put up for sale in Nigeria.
On Jiji.ng, an online sales website similar to Kijiji, the used 2018 Ford F-150 was offered for 27 million naira, or around C$83,000.
Photo courtesy, taken from Jiji.ng website
We see a Ford F-150 registered in Quebec that was stolen to be offered for sale in Nigeria, Africa.
On the vehicle was a Quebec license plate and a Canadian serial number. According to a report from Carfax Canada, the vehicle was indeed reported stolen.
In Quebec, this truck would not sell for more than $35,000, because it was damaged.
“There’s a lot of money to be made with that. Here, people love cars. There is a big market [au Nigeria] “Said the Nigerian seller of the vehicle, reached by telephone. The latter confirmed that all vehicles sent from Canada arrive in containers.
The owner of the vehicle, joined by I, claims to have been advised by the police that his vehicle is found on the other side of the Atlantic. He said he was unsurprised by where his vehicle was sent.
The new technological tools used by vehicle thieves allow them to circumvent security systems with disarming ease.
Today, you can steal a vehicle quickly with a wave sensor by copying data from smart keys, says Freddy Marcantonio, vice-president of Tracking TAG, a firm specializing in tracking stolen vehicles.
“In less than a minute and a half, you’re done,” he said in an interview with I.
Smarter thieves take advantage of the fact that we usually leave our keys by the door in the house.
Because late-model smart keys emit a signal that can be picked up easily from the outside, all they have to do is scan the wall near the front door and amplify the signal so the on-board computer assumes the key is in the vehicle.
Photo courtesy, Toronto Police
Thieves who amplify the signal from the smart key located near the home door to easily steal the vehicle.
In addition, a video released by the Toronto Regional Police shows that a robbery can be completed in just 18 seconds.
Steve Waterhouse, computer expert, believes that the technologies developed to protect our vehicles are often outdated at the time of marketing.
In fact, automakers are struggling to keep up with thieves, whose techniques continue to improve, according to David C. Adams, president of Global Automakers of Canada.
The association represents about fifteen automobile manufacturers, including Honda and Toyota.
“Automakers are trying to stay ahead of the curve to stay ahead of thieves. Each time they succeed, the thieves find a new weakness. So we have to catch up. […] It’s an issue when the time comes to put a vehicle on the market,” explains Mr. Adams.
Reference-www.tvanouvelles.ca
Many vehicles have been stolen from Montreal and Cornwall in the last few weeks.
The police are all aware of it, and many of them are giving different excuses as to the lack of action:
(1) we cannot go look there it is not my jurisdiction. The higher officials know of the problem and they do not want to allocate extra funding to fix the issue; and
(2) this is a problem that has been going on for years. It is not complicated to have ALL containers at the Montreal Port inspected which carry vehicles outbound of our country.
This matter should be reviewed by the RCMP.
Many people being arrested for auto theft are released shortly after. Penalties need to be harsher for vehicle theft.
A few weeks ago, a woman in Montreal had her vehicle stolen. A few days later they stole the rental vehicle.
When is enough, enough!
If they are only catching approx. 1,000 vehicles at the Port of Montreal per year, this means that they are missing over 75% of stolen vehicles leaving the Port of Montreal.
Do not tell me that they cannot check all containers which contain vehicles. The organized crime ring goes one step further. They are falsifying manifests and ownership of what is actually in the containers.
The issue goes one step further, they are aware of where the transfer points are to load those containers going to the Montreal Port, and they do not have those transfer points under surveillance.