By Mike Davey
Toronto, Ontario — June 27, 2016 — Toronto police have made another arrest in connection with Project CBG, an ongoing investigation into a car theft ring targeting high-end vehicles within the Greater Toronto Area. In particular, the targeted models were the Acura MDX, Lexus and Toyota SUV.
Nicholas Harry of Toronto faces 103 charges in connection with the ring, including two counts of possession of property obtained by crime.
The vast majority of the vehicles were stolen from residential driveways. The ring intended to ship them to Africa via ports in Montreal and Halifax. Police estimate that this ring was responsible for stealing up to 500 SUVs in Toronto and other parts of the GTA.
“In terms of Toronto specifically, we believe this group was responsible for 10 to 15 percent of the vehicles stolen in Toronto this year,” said Deputy Chief Jim Ramer during an official press conference in December.
Ramer further noted that the ring extended far beyond the people actually stealing the cars, but also included people unloading and loading the vehicles, drivers, shipping company employees and an employee of Service Ontario.
In total, police estimated that the ring stole vehicles worth approximately $30 million. Raids executed over the weekend resulted in 18 arrests, with warrants for six individuals still outstanding. Police also recovered about 200 vehicles from container ships destined for Africa. The value of the recovered vehicles was approximately $11 million.
