Over half of the recently arrested members of a major crime network that steals Canadian vehicles in the GTA are out on bail.
After a large-scale criminal investigation dubbed ‘Project Odyssey’, it looked like police were finally making headway.
Over $33 million in stolen vehicles have been recovered in the Peel region alone over recent months, constituting 369 vehicles, along with another 114 vehicles that were recovered in Montreal.
Moreover, police now know where to look, uncovering that the network primarily operates out of Brampton, where a trucking yard holds and then delivers stolen vehicles to the Port of Montreal, where they’re then shipped to the United Arab Emirates, Oman, and other countries abroad.
As part of the most recent batch, 26 men were arrested, 322 charges were laid, and 10 warrants were issued.
And that’s only the most recent achievements. Over the last 18 months, Peel Police Chief Nishan Duraiappah says his department has managed to arrest nearly 200 individuals, issue approximately 1,600 auto theft-related offence charges, and recover close to $100 million in stolen vehicles.”
It’s a great start to a pervasive problem that’s been plaguing residents in Southern Ontario.
… Until you realize 14 out of the 22 who were caught and charged in the latest batch are already out on bail, with 8 of them having committed crimes again.
Police, unsurprisingly, aren’t too happy about this.
“We see repeated individuals continue to victimize our community. Fourteen of the twenty-six arrested, that’s over half of them, were already on a form of release or bail for auto theft-related offences.” reported Duraiappah.
“People are maximizing on the low risk, high reward criminal activity.”
In other words, police are doing their jobs, but the courts aren’t.
Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown echoed this sentiment, saying, “Eight of the individuals charged have already been released. That is not acceptable. We can’t have a criminal justice system that’s a revolving door.”
Obviously, something needs to change.
