Canadian organized crime car thefts up

TORONTO, Dec. 9 (UPI) -- Overall car thefts in Canada are down, but the types of vehicles being stolen indicate more organized crime involvement, the Insurance Bureau of Canada said.

Rick Dubin, the bureau's vice president of investigations, said there are still traditional opportunistic thieves, but the growing number of thefts of such luxury vehicles as Cadillac Escalades and Hummers point to organized crime.

"Although these are harder to steal, sophisticated organized crime rings can make a strong profit by shipping them overseas, chopping them for parts, or changing their vehicle identification numbers and selling them to unsuspecting consumers," he said.

The bureau said in a release from Toronto there is high demand for such high-end vehicles in Ghana, Nigeria, Dubai, Lebanon, the Middle East and Eastern Europe.

The latest figures available from Statistics Canada show 125,271 vehicles were stolen in Canada in 2008, a drop of 15 percent from 2007.

The top five vehicles targeted by thieves are 2000 Honda Civic SiR 2-door, 2003 Cadillac Escalade ESV 4-door, 1999 Honda Civic SiR 2-door, 2006 Chevrolet/GMC Trailblazer SS 4-door and 2002 Cadillac Escalade EXT 4-door, the bureau said.