The initiative, known as Project Drive Out, is aimed at enhancing information sharing between law enforcement agencies, member states and private industry. The goal is also to strengthen data analysis in order to identify stolen vehicles and spare parts around the world and return them to Canada, according to a Nov. 25 government news release.
“Our Interpol-Ottawa office includes a dedicated team that works collaboratively with member countries around the world, leveraging Interpol’s Stolen Motor Vehicle Database, as well as delivering Interpol’s capacity-building training to fight transnational vehicle crime,” RCMP Commissioner Michael Duheme said in the release.
“We are committed to ongoing co-operation with domestic and international partners to ensure a coordinated and effective response,” he added.
The initiative is aimed, in part, at enhancing the Stolen Motor Vehicle Database, which currently holds 12 million records. The database allows police in Interpol member countries to check suspicious vehicles and find out instantly if they have been reported as stolen. In 2023, notes the news release, approximately 226,000 vehicles globally were identified as stolen through the database and, so far in 2024, it has been searched more than 356 million times.
Most stolen vehicles exported from Canada are destined for Africa and the Middle East, says the release.
From February to October of this year, the RCMP received 2,666 alerts about Canadian vehicles and 491 international collaboration requests through the database.
In addition, as part of the government’s multi-pronged effort to bring down historically high rates of auto theft, the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) has intercepted more than 2,100 stolen vehicles in railyards and ports this year, exceeding last year’s total, said the government.
The Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC) is also providing financial intelligence disclosures to law enforcement in support of investigations into organized crime, including auto theft. Police services are also being encouraged to collect information from victims derived from tracking technology on their vehicles, such as Apple AirTags, and are adding the information to the Canadian Police Information Centre system (CPIC).
The government noted that auto theft insurance claims are down 19 per cent so far this year.
Interpol Secretary General Valdecy Urquiza said organized crime groups use the proceeds from the sale of stolen vehicles and auto parts to fund a host of other illegal activities, including drug trafficking, human smuggling, gun sales and acts of terror.
“This partnership with the Government of Canada represents a step forward, empowering law enforcement across the globe to strike at the heart of a crime that reaches far beyond a single theft,” he said. “Together, we’re building a safer world.”
The federal government’s National Action Plan on Combatting Auto Theft also includes legislative and regulatory changes through Bill C-69, An Act to implement certain provisions of the budget tabled in Parliament, which received royal assent on June 20.
Among other things, the Criminal Code amendments in the law create new criminal offences related to auto theft involving the use of violence or links to organized crime, possession or distribution of an electronic device for the purposes of committing auto theft and laundering proceeds of crime for the benefit of a criminal organization.
Provinces such as Ontario have also made legislative changes to address auto theft. Legislation introduced earlier this month by the Ontario government would, if passed, create a new provincial offence for fraudulent vehicle registrations.
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