KAWARTHA LAKES-Durham Regional Police Service says it has recovered 23 stolen vehicles during Project Vulture with an estimated recovery value of more than $1 million dollars.
Project Vulture was done alongside Operation Carback, which was spearheaded by INTERPOL and coordinated through the RCMP. Operation Carback was a global police operation targeting stolen vehicle trafficking.
In just over two weeks, Operation Carback led to the:
- identification of 1,121 stolen cars and 64 motorcycles;
- arrest or detention of 222 suspected stolen vehicle traffickers;
- detention of 8 suspected people smugglers;
- detection of 26 fraudulent vehicle documents;
- seizure of 480,000 stolen cigarettes.
Officers raided chop shops – places where stolen vehicles are dismantled into parts that are smuggled or sold online – with confiscations triggering further investigations into car crime gangs globally.
Between May 16, 2022 and May 31, 2022, the Durham Regional Police Service was the only Canadian municipal service to participate in a global Interpol police operation, allowing members of the DRPS Financial Crimes Unit, along with the RCMP and Interpol Ottawa to engage and target vehicle crime.
Every year, hundreds of thousands of vehicles around the world are stolen, fraudulently obtained and smuggled out of their countries of origin and then used as either tools or commodities in different criminal activities according to police. In 2021, Interpol’s stolen motor vehicle database contained more than 7,500,000 records.
Anyone with new information about this investigation is asked to contact Det. Jaciuk of the Financial Crimes Unit at 1-888-579-1520 ext. 5353.
Anonymous information can be sent to Durham Regional Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477) and tipsters may be eligible for a $2,000 cash reward.
