Toronto police said they made a dent in a significant global car theft ring after arresting 18 people and laying 640 charges in a series of city-wide raids.
The organization, which allegedly lifted $30 million worth of high-end vehicles from residential driveways throughout the year, is believed to be tied to the Nigeria-based Black Axe criminal organization, police said.
Acting Deputy Chief James Ramer said the arrests, which have "significantly degraded" the Toronto ring, could have an impact beyond the city limits.
"There is absolutely no doubt that organized crime enterprises such as the Black Axe use the proceeds of these types of property crimes to further fund and grow their illegal enterprises," Ramer told a press conference. "And in this case those illegal enterprises are often offshore."
Police said the investigation dubbed Project CBG got underway in April of this year after a rash of car thefts from some of the city's more affluent neighbourhoods.
Police allege high-end vehicles such as Lexuses and Acuras were disappearing from driveways in the middle of the night as the owners slept, sometimes mere days after the cars had been purchased. Some homes were targeted multiple times, police added.
Ramer alleged the ring managed to make off with about 500 sport utility vehicles throughout the year, accounting for 10 to 15 per cent of total car thefts in the Toronto area for 2015.
Many of those cars were shipped to Africa via ports in Halifax and Montreal.
Staff Insp. Mike Earl said the organization had a particularly sophisticated mode of operation.
Thieves allegedly began by stealing the keys of new vehicles as they arrived in the city en route to the dealerships where they were to be sold, but Earl said the technique changed over time.
He alleged the organization shifted to photographing vehicle identification numbers and key codes. He said this information was then used to look up information about the new car owners and where they lived.
Police said one of the 18 people arrested in Thursday's raids is an employee of ServiceOntario, a provincial body involved in issuing vehicle registrations.
Earl alleged the key codes were also funnelled to a locksmith who cut copies that were used to steal the vehicles.
"This was a sophisticated operation, and we had to decide as a police service, and with our partner agencies, either we deal with the thefts at hand or we take the head of the snake off," Earl said of the months-long investigation. "So we went for the head of the snake, and that's what we hope we did in this operation."
Police said they arrested two of the alleged leaders of the ring along with the locksmith, a number of shipping yard employees and car dealership owners.
Six more suspects remain at large.
