Stolen vehicles worth $15 million have been recovered as part of a year-long investigation into an auto theft ring operating in Hamilton and Southern Ontario.
Hamilton Police Service (HPS) said the investigation – dubbed Project Polar Bear – also yielded seven arrests.
The auto theft ring targeted high-end vehicles, and once stolen, the cars were distributed nationally and internationally, police said in a news release Wednesday.
Investigators determined that crews would steal vehicles at night and load them into shipping containers. Most were sent to Montreal and were then further shipped to Ghana, Iraq, or the United Arab Emirates, they said.
Nationally, the stolen vehicles were re-vinned and circulated back into the domestic market according to HPS. Police said they are still looking into whether the buyers of the recirculated vehicles have any criminal responsibility related to their purchase.
Over the course of the year-long investigation, police said over 200 (nearly 88 per cent) of the stolen vehicles were recovered and returned to their owners. They were valued at approximately $15 million.
HPS said about half of the recovered vehicles were stolen from Hamilton, while the rest were taken across the Greater Toronto-Hamilton Area (GTHA).
The release said an additional 14 vehicles were recovered from Feb. 14 to 18 as a result of search warrants.
Amounts of cocaine and psilocybin – also known as mushrooms, two loaded handguns, money, and devices used to steal and reprogram key fob signals and alter vehicle identification numbers (VINs) were also seized throughout the investigation.
As a result, seven individuals from around the GTHA ranging in age from 19 to 43 were arrested and are now facing multiple charges.
Police said they are still searching for Hasan Sulaiman, 19, of Hamilton. He is wanted on multiple stolen vehicle charges.
Anyone with additional information is asked to contact Detective Emerson Heaslip or Crime Stoppers anonymously.
