Two men face charges after provincial police seized nearly $3-million worth of stolen vehicles, including classic cars, in northeastern Ontario.
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Lambton County OPP received a complaint last year about stolen vehicles, leading investigators to carry out a search on May 14 in Stirling, a town east of Peterborough, police said Thursday.
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Investigators recovered several stolen vehicles, including classic cars, valued at $3 million, and another 16 vehicles were seized from the accused as the proceedings of crime, police said.
Robert Bradshaw, 54, and Gary Leblanc, 55, both of Stirling, are charged with motor vehicle theft over $5,000, fraud over $5,000, using forged documents and conspiracy to commit an unspeakable offense. Leblanc is additionally charged with uttering threats.
The men have been released from custody and are scheduled to appear in a Belleville court on June 27.
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“As Lambton County detachment commander, I’m pleased that our crime unit members’ exemplary efforts played an important role in bringing this multi-unit investigation to a conclusion,” OPP Insp. Chris Avery said in a statement.
“Crime does not respect borders. That’s why it’s essential that members of law enforcement work together to bring criminals to justice.”
The bust comes amid a spike in auto thefts across Canada, where 90,000 vehicles are stolen each year – roughly one vehicle every five minutes – resulting in around $1 billion in costs to insurance policyholders and taxpayers, according to the Insurance Bureau of Canada.
Many stolen vehicles are shipped overseas to the Middle East, Africa and Asia, often through the Port of Montreal.
Earlier this year, police seized 598 vehicles from the Port of Montreal after searching 390 shipping containers between Dec. 12, 2023, and March 29, recovering 598 vehicles stolen from Ontario and Quebec, police said.
The bulk of the 483 vehicles stolen from Ontario – valued at $34.5 million – were taken in the Greater Toronto Area, with one reported stolen from London and two from Woodstock.
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