Peter Edwards

Gas vehicles are vastly more popular targets in part because the countries where many Canadian vehicles are shipped and sold tend to lack charging infrastructure, said Équité Association’s Bryan Gast.

”The sophistication of this particular scam and exceptional quality of the documents they produced enabled the group to carry out similar frauds at other GTA and southern Ontario area dealerships,” Halton police said.

Mohamad Lilo is already in custody facing kidnapping charges over Hajtamiri’s Jan. 12, 2022, disappearance.

Toronto’s last car theft crisis ended with the rise of keyless tech that blocked old-school hot-wiring technique. Now, those same keyless systems are fuelling the current crisis.

“Whether it be a carjacking, a home invasion, an assault, or other form of intimidation, the level of violence being used in the commission of these offences represents a new and evolving threat to public safety,” a joint police statement said.

Mob hit man Charles Gagne was on a day pass from prison when he murdered boxer Eddie Melo and his friend outside a Mississauga cafe.

Canada has been branded a major source country for the international stolen auto trade, a fact insurance group Équité Association blames on outdated regulations.

Michael Kerry Hunter Jones, 36, is serving a sentence of just over 10 years for his role in the killing of B.C. gangster Jonathan Bacon.

Not all stolen cars leave Canada. A growing number are being illegally re-VINed and sold domestically to sometimes-unsuspecting buyers.

Cars stolen in the GTA arrive regularly at the port in large, sealed containers, labelled with a false description of other goods.