Stolen vehicles found at Port of Montreal
Totaling a value of $800,000, 17 stolen vehicles were found at the port of Montreal on March 22, during a joint operation between the Service de police de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM) and the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA).
During the first nine months of 2022, the number of vehicles stolen had exploded, exceeding 7,000, on SPVM territory. However, the police recall that nearly half, 45%, of the vehicles seized at the Port of Montreal – 1031 in 2022 – came from other Canadian provinces.
Most of the vehicles seized during the recent operation are SUVs, often luxury, specifies the SPVM. An agency was present to help identify the vehicles.
Those responsible for the thefts of these vehicles have not yet been identified, and an investigation is ongoing. Car thefts more than tripled in 2022 in two sectors in Montreal, the Plateau-Mont-Royal and Westmount-Village Shaughnessy.
Thefts are said to be on the rise, due to the shortage of new vehicles caused by the pandemic. The presence of the Port of Montreal could be a factor in the large number of thefts, said Captain Yannick Desmarais last January.
