Halton Police and CBSA Recover Stolen Vehicles En Route to Dubai

By Laura Steiner, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Milton Reporter

In a joint effort, the Halton Police’s auto theft task force, in collaboration with the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA), has successfully retrieved four stolen vehicles destined for Dubai. These vehicles were part of a more extensive investigation initiated in 2023, which flagged numerous stolen vehicles.

Authorities faced a challenge when two shipping containers carrying four stolen vehicles were en route to Dubai and couldn’t be intercepted in time. However, the containers were rerouted back to Canada through continued cooperation between Canadian authorities and law enforcement in Dubai.

In late January 2024, police investigators took custody of the recovered vehicles’ containers, including a Lexus SUV stolen from Halton, two Ford-150s stolen from Peel and Toronto, and a Land Rover Range Rover stolen from Peel. The total value of the recovered vehicles is estimated to be around $200,000.

The investigation into these thefts remains ongoing, and authorities urge anyone with information to contact the Regional Auto Theft Task Force.

This success follows an earlier interception in February 2023 when the Halton Police’s Auto Theft Task Force, in partnership with the CBSA and Peel Regional Police, managed to halt the transportation of 24 stolen vehicles to Dubai. Among the seized cars was a Rolls-Royce valued at approximately $500,000. These vehicles intercepted in transit through Morocco, were returned to Canada, marking the largest seizure of stolen Canadian vehicles in Morocco.

The stolen vehicles involved in these cases are typically subjected to “reprogramming” by suspects, allowing them to bypass security systems and operate the vehicles with new keys. They are then transported to the Port of Montreal or loaded into shipping containers in Toronto for further transportation to Montreal by rail.