The Sûreté du Québec (SQ) is currently conducting a large-scale search operation on both banks of the Quebec City region in connection with a vehicle theft network that conducts its activities primarily in the MRC de Bellechasse.
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Police officers from the Serious Crime Investigations Branch are making seizures and arrests in connection with the theft of around 50 cars, according to SQ spokeswoman Béatrice Dorsainville.
Photo: Marcel Tremblay/QMi
The interventions will take place in the Sainte-Foy, Saint-Augustin-de-Desmaures and La Durantaye sectors.
Photo: Marcel Tremblay/QMi
The operation, which emerges from an investigation launched last March, mobilizes more than 60 police officers.
The aim of the sûreté is to “gather material evidence” to justify the arrest of “suspects involved in the criminal organization”.
Photo: Marcel Tremblay/QMi
port transit
A series of similar seizures occurred in Montreal last March.
Photo: Marcel Tremblay/QMi
In a joint operation, the Service de Police de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM) and the Canada Border Services Agency found 17 stolen vehicles in the Port of Montreal. The total value of the vehicles was estimated at $800,000.
Photo: Marcel Tremblay/QMi
Most of the vehicles recovered by authorities were luxury sport utility vehicles (SUVs). They were probably intended to be sold abroad.
Fourteen Quebecers, including several minors, were arrested in Ontario in April on the fringes of a wide-ranging investigation that led to the recovery of 556 stolen vehicles in Toronto worth an estimated $27.4 million.
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