A Montreal woman had to wait 53 days to recover her stolen SUV, which was found in a container at the Port of Montreal less than 36 hours after it was stolen.
“I expected we would receive it quickly, we knew where it was! But no. “It took a really long time, especially because I need it most in the summer,” says Elizabeth Lévesque, still annoyed today.
Last May, the young woman was one of thousands of victims of car theft in Quebec, although her SUV was narrowly intercepted before it was sent abroad.
However, a significant proportion of stolen vehicles are illegally exported from Montreal to Africa or the Middle East under the nose of the Canadian Border Services Agency (see other text).
A real headache
Elizabeth Lévesque’s setbacks in recovering her KIA Sportage on Quebec soil will still bring back bad memories for anyone who has recently had to deal with the consequences of such theft.
“It’s like we don’t know how to deal with a stolen car and it’s not a priority for anyone but the driver,” she notes, considering her experiences and those of those around her.
Thanks to TAG’s tracking system, Ms. Lévesque was informed two days later that her vehicle, stolen from a residential street in Hochelaga-Maisonneuve, was being returned to the Port of Montreal.
The 30-year-old even received a photo and the number of the container that contained her SUV, which she bought second-hand, so she could travel outside in remote places.
Decency
Elizabeth Lévesque’s SUV was quickly spotted in this burgundy container at the Port of Montreal.
“The port is close to our house, I could have walked there and picked him up,” she shouts.
Endless delays
Despite everything, she had to wait more than seven weeks before getting behind the wheel of her car – something she can hardly believe.
This is due, among other things, to the fact that the vehicle had to pass through the hands of the border authorities, the Port of Montreal, the Équité Association, which carries out investigations on behalf of the insurers, the police of the City of Montreal and the Sterling.
Photo Nora T. Lamontagne
Elizabeth Lévesque struggled to install a steering wheel bar on her vehicle after it was stolen.
Freddy Marcantonio, vice president of Repérage TAG, is hardly surprised by these delays.
After finding more than 2,000 vehicles, he discovered that the stolen cars that were unfortunate enough to get through the port gates took the longest and most difficult to recover.
On the contrary, if it is found elsewhere in the city, “TAG calls the police, and the next day the customer can have it back,” he notes.
Can you share information about this story?
Write to us or call us directly at 1 800-63SCOOP.