Canadians seize stolen vehicles headed for Ghana

Montreal police have recovered four stolen high-priced vehicles - including two from the United States - in crates at the port, and they're on the hunt for more.

Police located the four late-model vehicles at the port July 8 after receiving a tip about the shipper, a Canadian export firm, Det.-Lt. Bob Laplante, of the Montreal police crimes against property unit, said yesterday.


He would not provide details about the company, but said there could be more arrests and more stolen cars may be found.


Port of Montreal officials halted the shipment, which was headed for Ghana, Laplante said. The cargo containers with the crates in them were later opened and the vehicles were transported to a secure car lot Thursday.


The recovered vehicles include two Canadian-owned SUVs - a Hummer and a GMC Yukon - and two pickup trucks with U.S. registrations: a Toyota Tacoma and a Ford F350, Laplante said.


The Ford belongs to Dave Marricco, the man featured in a July 10 Gazette story about car thieves targeting U.S. tourists.

Thieves look for high-end cars with U.S. plates - especially in hotel parking lots - because they tend not to have functioning tracking systems, Laplante said.


"That's why they target the American cars," he said.


(LoJack, a tracking system found in some high-end U.S. cars, does not work in Canada.)


Cars from other provinces are also targeted because they take longer to report as stolen than Quebec ones, Laplante said.


"Mainly the cars end up in the United Arab Emirates," he said, adding it is cheaper to pay thieves to steal a car here and have it shipped than to purchase such vehicles over there.