The
Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC) is assisting Edmonton police as the authorities investigate an auto part theft operation in the region.
The theft ring, based in the northeastern part of the city, has been described by officials as “the largest operation of its kind.” IBC was tapped to help identify where the vehicles come from and who owns them.
“Everybody in there was overwhelmed with what we had,” Det. Dwayne Karpo told Global News. “We’re talking guys who have been investigators for 30 years, dealing with auto theft, and even they were taken back. They’ve never seen anything like this.”
Stolen vehicles and parts continue to be recovered from the site of the theft operation, located in the area of 121 Avenue and 76 Street. As of Thursday, police had recovered upwards of $2 million worth of stolen property.
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“Anything on your vehicle that could have been parted out, was being parted out here,” said Karpo. “The parts business is very lucrative. You think, you’re paying $1,000 for a door, tires, rims. There’s big money in it.”
Karpo described the theft operation as “very sophisticated.”
“Just the organization aspect of it, very methodical where parts were placed,” he explained. “This is a great example of what can happen with a stolen vehicle. Some of them that we’ve identified were as recent as June 02. So June 02 stolen, brought here and it’s already in parts.”
“This is one of the largest search warrants related to auto crime, to my knowledge, in Edmonton’s history and possibly in Alberta’s history. It’s a huge file,” commented IBC Western Canada director of investigative services.
“There are many, many files here related to stolen autos. Most of those have been paid out, to my knowledge, so we’ll be doing what we can to get that product back to the insurance company.”
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