Police recover $1.4 million in stolen cargo

AURORA, Ont. – A grand piano, baby products and barbeques are back where they belong after York Regional Police recovered a large quantity of stolen goods, thanks to a little help from the Insurance Bureau of Canada’s cargo theft reporting program.

In total the police force’s auto/cargo theft unit recovered more than $1.4 million of cargo that had been stolen in transit. The merchandise, which also included household appliances, cleaning supplies, tools, musical instruments, forklifts and vehicle antifreeze, was part of 15 separate loads that had been diverted and re-routed while in transit to retail distribution centres and shipped to independently owned warehouses for storage until the items were illegally sold.

After receiving information about the thefts, police obtained search warrants and conducted raids on warehouses in Vaughan, Ont. and Toronto.

According to York Regional Police, “the majority of the property recovered has been identified and returned to the owners.”

The Insurance Bureau of Canada’s national cargo theft reporting database was one of the tools police used to match the recovered goods with the retailers who had items stolen.

“This is an excellent example of the effectiveness of our process. With the help of IBC’s program, police were able to quickly identify the source of the stolen goods and return them to their rightful owners,” said Garry Robertson, IBC’s national director of investigative services.

Although most of the goods have been returned, police are continuing their investigation and have asked for anybody with information to report it.