The York Regional Police, which serves Canada’s Greater Toronto Area (GTA), announced today that over the last six months it has recovered 215 stolen vehicles with a combined value of around $17.4 million CAD (US$12.8 million at current exchange rates), as part of an ongoing investigation called “Project Touchdown.”
The Canadian police service described details of the multi-agency project at a news conference on Wednesday. Law enforcement authorities were looking into reports from numerous vehicle owners, who said that they had woken up to an empty driveway, finding that their vehicles had been stolen in the dead of night, reports Narcity.
According to police, the thieves would mostly work between 1:00 a.m. and 5:00 a.m. and use “key reprogramming,” as well as a high-tech tactic that is referred to as “relay theft.” In this way, thieves can capture the signal of a key fob inside a home, and use a relay to unlock a nearby vehicle and drive away with it in as little as 22 seconds, York Regional Police Chief Jim MacSween pointed out in a tweet.
Read: Watch Thieves Steal A Tesla Model S In Seconds With Relay Attack
As part of its investigation, the police force says that it has also arrested 51 people, and laid more than 150 charges, as part of Project Touchdown. In addition to the stolen vehicles, the force seized 15 handguns and one “assault-style rifle,” as well as ammunition and magazines, with a total estimated value of more than CA$100,000 (equal to nearly US$74,000 at current exchange rates).
Finally, the York Regional Police say they also seized a number of drugs, such as fentanyl, MDMA, cocaine, and Oxycodone, through this investigation.
Project Touchdown was precipitated by increasing reports of vehicle theft in the area. The nearby Peel Regional Police—which worked with the York Regional Police and others on the project—said that it recovered an average of six stolen vehicles per day in 2022.
Investigators encourage vehicle owners to take a few steps to protect themselves from thieves. It is recommended that owners park their vehicles inside a locked garage, use a steering lock, and install a lock on the data port, among other things. Police forces in other countries, meanwhile, have recommended that owners store their keys in a metal tin or a protective pouch, in order to prevent thieves from using relay devices to steal their vehicle.
