Durham Regional Police Service (DRPS) yesterday said 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, said a police statement.
Between May 16 and 31, DRPS 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.
Vehicle crime is a negative trend that remains very relevant despite the prevention efforts of law enforcement agencies, manufacturers, insurance companies and other important stakeholders. 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. 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.
