Police have charged a Brampton man after recovering over $3 million in vehicles stolen across Ontario, including some that were found as far away as Africa.<\/p>\n
The three-month long investigation into stolen vehicles across the province led officers with the Barrie Police Service, the South Simcoe Police Service and the Canada Border Services Agency to stolen rides.<\/p>\n
CBSA officers identified shipping containers in Montreal and the Greater Toronto Area holding 19 stolen vehicles, while another 21 stolen vehicles were tracked and recovered in ports of the Bahamas, Spain, and Ghana.<\/p>\n
The vehicles included one Lamborghini, Honda CRVs, Toyota Tundras, Lexus RXs and F150s, police say. The value of the vehicles is \u201cwell over $3 million,\u201d and investigators say they were reported stolen from across the province, including Simcoe County, York Region, Toronto, Peel, Halton, and the Niagara Region<\/p>\n
On April 24, Barrie police say a 31-year-old Brampton man was charged with trafficking property obtained by crime, and possession of property obtained by crime over $5,000.<\/p>\n
The name of the accused has not been released.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe recovery of these stolen vehicles is a major step forward in addressing the growing issue of vehicle theft nationwide,\u201d Barrie police said on Thursday.<\/p>\n
Police say stolen vehicles can be used as a revenue tool for crime groups, either being traded as currency or used in crimes before being ditched or destroyed. Some end up shipped overseas, with police aware of used car lots in countries like Ghana which appear to be selling stolen vehicles from Ontario.<\/p>\n