64 luxury cars stolen in Mississauga, Brampton and across GTA recovered in Malta
Published February 10, 2023 at 1:32 pm
More than five dozen luxury vehicles that were stolen from people’s driveways in Mississauga, Brampton and across the GTA have been found in Malta and returned to Canada by police.
York Regional Police spearheaded the huge operation, dubbed Project Majestic, in which 64 stolen vehicles that included Lexus, Toyota and Honda SUVs valued at about $3.5 million were tracked to the Mediterranean Sea nation by investigators.
Peel Regional Police Commercial Auto Crime Unit and the force’s Criminal Investigations Bureaus were part of the sweeping York-led operation that also included the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA), Malta Port Authority, Customs and Equité Association and Toronto Police auto theft investigators.
A video showing some of the recovered stolen vehicles appears below.
Police say they found the dozens of stolen vehicles inside shipping containers in Malta, ready to be sold illegally.
According to police, Project Majestic began in early 2021 with members of the York police Auto Cargo Theft Unit working in collaboration with the Toronto Police Auto Theft Suppression Project.
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“Investigators identified a criminal syndicate responsible for stealing high-end vehicles including Lexus, Toyota and Honda sport utility vehicles from residential driveways across the Greater Toronto Area,” York police said in a news release today (Feb. 10).
Police say those responsible for stealing the vehicles from residential driveways entered the cars and reprogrammed ignition computers, allowing the SUVs to then be driven away utilizing a new key.
“The vehicles were driven directly to the Port of Montreal or loaded into shipping containers in Toronto and transported to Montreal by rail. The containers were then loaded onto ships and vehicles delivered to buyers in Africa and the United Arab Emirates,” police say, adding the most-recent collection of stolen vehicles wound up in Malta.
Also part of Project Majestic, more than 70 stolen vehicles, with a value of more than $4.5 million, were seized between March 2021 and December 2022.
Since then, police recovered the 64 vehicles in Malta, bringing the total number of recovered vehicles to more than 130, valued at $8 million.
In total, 18 people have so far been charged with more than 170 offences including conspiracy, trafficking of property obtained by crime and theft of a motor vehicle.
Police say the investigation is ongoing and anyone with information is asked to call 1-866-876-5423, ext.6651, or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.
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