Two 17-year-olds from Guelph were among eight people arrested in a Waterloo Regional Police Service investigation into car thefts.
On Friday, WRPS announced the recovery of 45 stolen vehicles from Waterloo region and Guelph valued at $3.1 million and at least 92 criminal charges against eight men.
The arrest of eight males who were working as an organized crime ring to steal and export high end vehicles from the area included two 19-year-old men from Cambridge, two 17-year-olds from Guelph, an 18 -year-old and a 24-year-old from Paris, a 25-year-old from Brampton and a 26-year-old from British Columbia.
WRPS deputy chief Jen Davis noted that this investigation has been ongoing for over six months and has put a "huge dent" in local organized crime.
"It is believed these vehicles were stolen with the intention of shipping overseas for criminal resale," said Davis at a press conference this morning.
Police add that all the vehicles were stolen in Waterloo region and Guelph with Cambridge being a hot spot due to it's proximity to the 401 corridor to Toronto.
According to police, all of the suspects have been released on bail and the investigation is still ongoing.
Car thieves are becoming more technologically savvy with their crimes, adds staff sergeant Ian Kerr, of the property crimes and financial unit of the WRPS.
Once a suspect finds a vehicle of interest, they force their way inside and use diagnostic tools to reprogram key fobs and simply drive the cars away.
"It's not hard to do and without getting too much into it, it's fairly easy to figure out how to do it, " said Kerr.
These vehicles are then driven to ports in Montreal where they are loaded into shipping containers and sent overseas. Kerr adds that countries in the Middle East and Africa are some of the biggest purchasers of these stolen cars.
As incidents of vehicle theft continues rise in Waterloo region, police were recently given a grant by the provincial government of $687,000 over three years to help aid in the fight against organized crime and auto theft.
Police are also seeking a larger budget than in years prior to help with staffing concerns that Davis adds will help with combating car theft and bringing criminals to justice.
"I would say the main reason is just presence; having officer present in areas that we're seeing trends or increases in vehicle thefts occurring to just visibility on the road and the ability to investigate crimes. When we're able to hire more officers, not only does it help their frontline, but it also actually helps on the on the back-end," Davis said.
Kerr also gave some tips to prevent cars from being stolen such as: putting a steering wheel club in your car, parking an older less desirable car behind a newer one, equip your vehicle with an aftermarket GPS and to never leave your vehicle unattended while running.
The reprogramming thefts police are seeing are "troubling," because every time police think of a fix or a way to solve an issue, thieves are able to find ways around their efforts.
"The problem is that with organized theft, the profit margins are so high right now and for every fix there is, they're going to try and get around it. They're going to spend all the resources and time trying to get around and essentially what ends up happening is we get the technology, they defeat the technology," Kerr said.
In recent data collected from WRPS crime map, police have seen the most occurrences of car theft ever in the region.
Cambridge tops the list of most occurrences and Davis notes this is because of east Hespeler's proximity to Highway 401.
