Cargo scanner to catch stolen autos leaving Canada deployed in Brampton

The feds have a new tool to fight organized crime in Canada with the rollout of a new mobile scanner to stop stolen vehicles from leaving the country.

Canada’s public safety minister and Mayor Patrick Brown unveiled the new mobile X-ray scanner in Brampton on Sunday, something Brown has been calling for to help recover stolen autos.

The $3.5-million mobile scanner will be used to check cargo containers for pilfered vehicles, which police say stolen vehicles can be used as currency by criminal groups and are often shipped overseas.

Brown said the new technology will help fight “the scourge” of auto thefts being seen in Brampton and “sends a message to organized crime.”

“If you think you can get (stolen autos) out of our country with ease, that’s not going to be the case anymore,” Brown said on Sunday.

The mobile scanning truck will be used at the CN Brampton and CP Vaughan intermodal hubs which both send commercial goods to the Port of Montreal, where nearly 600 vehicles were stopped from leaving the country earlier this year.

Most of the vehicles were stolen in Toronto at 215 recovered, while Mississauga and Brampton had the second-highest tally at 125.

In 2023 some 30,000 vehicles were reported stolen in Ontario alone, while the CBSA has recovered less than 7,000 vehicles since 2018. Around 1 per cent of the 1.5 million shipping containers leaving the Port of Montreal are scanned every year.

The mayor visited the Port of Newark last week along with Peel police for a two-day tour from Homeland Security to learn about techniques and technology used by U.S. counterparts. Brown and Peel Regional Police Dep. Chief Nick Milinovic say they will submit a report on what was learned from the port visit to Public Safety Canada for consideration.

Data from police shows there were over 500 auto theft incidents reported in Mississauga and Brampton over the last few weeks, marking the second consecutive month with such high numbers.

The federal government has announced a new action plan to disrupt and dismantle organized crime groups in response to a massive increase in the number of stolen vehicles in the GTA and across Canada.

Along with scanners the new National Action Plan on Combatting Auto Theft includes proposed changes to the Criminal Code around penalties for auto thefts tied to money laundering and organized crime. It also includes plans for more intelligence sharing between municipal, provincial and federal governments.