Toronto police recover more than 1,000 stolen cars, lay hundreds of charges

Toronto police recovered more than 1,000 carsstolen from city residents, the force announced onWednesday, marking the end of a nearly yearlong investigation intocar thefts.

Project Stallion, which was operational between November 2022 and September 2023,has led to the recovery of 1,080 vehicles witha combined value of more than $59 million, said Supt.Ron Taverner.

He says the project hasalso resulted in553 chargesagainst 228 people,at least 20of whom areunder the age of 18.

"These results demonstrate how seriously we're taking this issue," Taverner said.

"But we recognize that for many people in the city, their vehicles may never be recovered, and more importantly, their feelings of safety and security have been compromised."

The end of the project comes as the city continues to grapplewith a rise in vehicle thefts.So far in 2023, 9,747 vehicles have been stolen in Toronto. Over the course of the investigation, more than3,500vehicles were stolen in two police divisions alone those representing Etobicoke and North West Toronto.

It also follows last week's announcement thatthe Ontario Provincial Police and Toronto policeforces were creatinga jointprovincial task forceaimed at addressing a rise in carjackings. At the time, they said there have been roughly 300 carjackings reported in the GTA so far this year, over 200 of those taking place in Toronto.

"I want to assure you that this issue will be top of mind for our officersin our community," Taverner said.

WATCH|This Toronto man has had his car stolen three times this year:

This North York man has had three cars stolen in the last year

11 months ago

Duration 1:00

Mitchell Levines dealership told him to remove an anti-theft device he installed in his Lexus but when he did, it was stolen from a TTC parking lot. Its the third time in the last year Levine and his wife have had a vehicle stolen.

Young people involved in many of the thefts, police say

"Younger and younger people" are behind many of these thefts, Tavernersaid. And while individual thefts do take place, he says the force is trying to target its investigationsinto the largergroups behind these organized operations.

"This all revolves around money. It's a lucrative business for people, they're being re-sold, they're being shipped overseas ... there's all kinds of things that are taking place," Taverner said, noting that ofthe cars recovered, about 95 per cent were found in Canadaanda "great number" of them were inthe process of being shipped to Montreal.

While hundreds of people were arrested and charged, Taverner said most of them are considered on the "lower-end" of the crime spectrum.

"It's very difficult to get to the head of the snake, proverbially," he said. "We're working on those types of things."

Chief Myron Demkiwsaid the project represents "only one of the strategic and intelligence-led" initiatives the service has launched totackle the problem of auto thefts in Toronto andacross the GTA.

He called on car manufacturers and the shipping industry to "step up and get in the game," saying that police are just one part of the solution.

"There are a number of players who have a role to play instopping the flow of stolen goods from our country abroad, and the complexity of unpacking that and dealing with that from an enforcement perspective takes all hands on deck," he said.