This is part three of CTV W5’s three-part investigative series on how car thieves can get away with modern vehicles so easily. W5 correspondent Jon Woodward accompanied York Regional Police on an arrest to look for clues in a vehicle.

Scott Cresswell got a tip that there was a stolen vehicle on a lot north of Toronto – a Toyota pickup truck allegedly headed to Africa.

But the detective with the York Regional Police Service’s auto and merchandise theft unit didn’t expect his search of that parking lot would turn up more than one vehicle — or clues to it. interior that could shed light on how they were stolen.

“It has quite a configuration. It goes deep in there,” Cresswell said as he and four other officers walked toward the gravel driveway on Rexdale Boulevard, northwest of downtown Toronto. Officers showed their search warrant to a man driving a trailer at the entrance and continued driving.

Watched by a team of W5s, the team tackled a row of locked shipping containers, first with bolt cutters on the padlocks, then with grinders on the reinforced locks.

Det. Scott Cresswell and a colleague from the York Regional Police Auto and Cargo Theft Unit execute a search warrant on a shipping container (CTV W5)

In one container – only household items. But then the second one opened showed an Acura MDX parked in the back. An officer checked the car’s VIN — a number that uniquely identifies a vehicle — only to discover that it had been reported stolen months earlier.

And as darkness fell that night in early November, police discovered the Toyota they were looking for. Inside was a generic key fob.

It looked similar to the one W5 had reprogrammed in demo, using a device we ordered online.

Our device created a new key fob for an SUV in CTV News’ fleet, without the existing key or help from the vehicle’s driver. Similar devices can be seen in security video showing robberies showing thieves taking off with vehicles in less than two minutes. Police and locksmiths have warned that the devices are being used by thieves.

“We know from previous surveys that they buy them on Amazon. You can buy them on eBay,” Cresswell said.

Is that what they did here? I pressed a button on the key fob, which locked and unlocked the car. Then I got in and tried to start the car. The engine roars.

“They logged into the system with their programming tool and created a new key,” Cresswell said.

“Very similar to the device we received,” I said.

“Exactly. It may even be the same brand of device that you have,” Cresswell said.

It’s hard to be sure – their device is long gone. The key would allow the foreign buyer to start the car.

W5 correspondent Jon Woodward holds a generic car key fob discovered in one of the stolen vehicles.

And this is a very concrete sign that the fight against the wave of car thefts involves curbing the use of these devices by thieves.

As part of Canada’s National Action Plan to Combat Auto Theft, the federal government introduced new criminal penalties for using these devices in the commission of theft, and also restricted the sale of certain devices.

But some devices, including the one we ordered, apparently remain legal to purchase.

The manufacturer’s North American office, Autel, told us that it does not sell on Amazon. But the popular online retailer listed the device for sale with a Chinese retailer and shipped it to Canada.

Autel says it is cooperating with law enforcement and looking for ways to allow locksmiths to continue using their devices, while preventing thieves from gaining access.

Reprogramming devices are crucial tools for the dozens of interdependent groups of thieves that roam the Greater Toronto Area, who entrust the vehicles they steal to middlemen who typically specialize in a given country, Cresswell said.

“There are a lot of stealing groups, sending them to groups that are basically people who buy the cars from anyone who wants to sell them overseas,” he said.

Middlemen buy a stolen vehicle for about $8,000 to $12,000, he said, and it costs about $10,000 to ship the container. But buyers will pay top dollar for a working car with a key, meaning there will be a significant profit to be made.

The huge crime wave that resulted in the theft of some 70,000 vehicles last year, with $1.5 billion in insurance losses, has reached its peak, with a drop of around 17% over the first six months of 2024, according to a report from Equite Association.

The decrease in overall car thefts has been accompanied by an increase in carjackings and overnight break-ins, Cresswell said.

In York Region, for example, there were 64 violent carjackings in 2024, about 5 times the number in 2019. In Toronto, there were 149 carjackings in June, representing an increase of ‘around 86% compared to the previous year.

W5 made several attempts by phone to contact the person operating the Rexdale Boulevard parking lot, but the staff did not put us in touch.

Cresswell said he believes much of the reduction in car thefts this year is due to better interdiction at Montreal ports and Toronto rail yards. He added that the work of his team also plays an important role.

“This is how you harm organized crime. You’re chasing money,” he said.

As for the tools, Cresswell said he recognizes there are legitimate uses and hopes new rules or techniques can be used to keep tools out of the hands of thieves.

“I think it could be powerful. I think it would be a good step in the right direction,” he said.

For tips on car theft or any other stories, please email Jon Woodward.