Members of the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) are currently in Montreal working together on an operation.
Not much information is available, but reports from the media suggest that the forces are cooperating on a probe related to stolen cars.
A command post from the OPP was stationed at a Montreal police east operations centre in St-Léonard on Wednesday.
Andre Durocher, a former SPVM inspector and Director of Community Relations and Road Safety at CAA-Quebec, mentioned, 'If the OPP is here, it’s to arrest people who have committed crimes in Ontario, and as it is the custom, you always ask for assistance from the local police agency.'
The country has been trying to reduce a significant rise in car thefts.
According to a recent report by the Équité Association, which aims to decrease insurance fraud and crime, 30, 134 cars were stolen in Ontario in 2023. In Quebec, 15, 225 cars were stolen last year.
The organization states that one vehicle is stolen every five minutes in Canada.
Experts note that a large number of stolen vehicles are directed through the Port of Montreal.
Andre Durocher mentioned, 'There’s a lot of legal technicalities — when a container is sealed, how you can open it when you can open it, what’s in there.' He added, 'And given the amount of containers at the port, you cannot verify every single container.'
Robert Arndt, a resident of New Hampshire, is familiar with these logistical challenges.
During a visit to Ontario last month to see his daughter and grandchildren, his truck was stolen, and a GPS tracking device indicated that it had ended up in Montreal.
Authorities informed him that it was probable that his truck was in a container and there weren’t enough resources to retrieve it.
Arndt expressed frustration, stating, 'I don’t care if you’re RCMP, if you’re Montreal [police], Port authority, if you get the call, they should be allowed in there to look for that car.' He added, 'When I called I was told three different stories of who’s responsibility it was in that port.'
Arndt has lost hope of ever recovering his truck.
He now hopes that the Canadian government will address the car theft crisis to help others.
The OPP has scheduled a press conference for Friday to discuss its joint operation with the Montreal Police.
