BUSTED! Canada's largest chop shop caught with 700 stolen cars
For years, gearheads have made some extra coin buying junk cars like Mustangs and Chevelles, taking them apart, then selling their still-working parts on resale sites like eBay. This is also what happens in chop houses around the globe, except instead of buying junkers, they simply steal very valuable vehicles, then remove brake rotors, tires, engines, transmissions, airbags, and anything else that can be sold on the black market. Canadian police found themselves the mother lode of all chop shops, and the sheer volume of cars found on the grounds of the 100,000 sq. ft. location was simply staggering.The scrap yard, just north of Montreal, was littered with luxury SUVs, Jaguars, Mercedes Benz, and other high-end vehicles that were being
hocked for their valuable parts. Some of the cars were brand-new, with zero miles on the odometer, and others were stacked one on top of another. Needless to say, the 39 year-old owner of the shifty operation has been detained, and jail time looks like a foregone conclusion due to the overwhelming amount of evidence. The Canadian police deserve a ton of credit for uncovering this operation, but we wonder why it took "years" to discover and investigate a scrap yard with 700 new cars and luxury SUVs that looks as if it could have been found by playing with Google Earth. The bottom picture is an aerial photo of the crime scene. Amazing!
Thanks for the tip, Derek!
[Source: ctv.ca.]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
akintz 8:43AM (5/03/2007)
So what did people think this place was? I mean, it's not some underground bunker or anything where people couldn't see the cars, right? Did the people in the area think that rich people just disposed of their "junk" here?
BTW... is "lode" even a word?
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DH 8:52AM (5/03/2007)
I am sure this must have been gang run operation. The initials "H" "A" come to mind... and that is most likely why it may have taken them so long to crack.
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Nitro 8:53AM (5/03/2007)
Wonder if they used Google Earth to find it
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$0.02 9:42AM (5/03/2007)
The key to understanding this is 'north of Montreal'. There are areas in the Province of Quebec that are quite isolated and sparsely populated.
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Dave in MI 8:59AM (5/03/2007)
Officer, those cars are illegally parked on my property. I'm glad you finally arrived to help me out.
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Jason 9:53AM (5/03/2007)
@ akintz
Yes, "lode" is a word. It generally refers to mining contexts, where a rich vein of ore (such as gold) is refered to as the "mother lode." Remember the game "Lode Runner?" Same thing.
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akintz 9:58AM (5/03/2007)
Jason:
Thanks for the clarification... I just never saw it used like that and had assumed a misspelling or something maybe. :)
But no, I don't remember that game, sorry.
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mxrz 10:14AM (5/03/2007)
Dammit, where am I supposed to get cheap S4/RS4 parts for my A4 now? Thanks alot RCMP :/
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Greg 10:31AM (5/03/2007)
This looks like it:
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=laval,+montreal&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=54.753001,76.640625&ie=UTF8&t=h&om=1&ll=45.5937,-73.700634&spn=0.002988,0.006437&z=18
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Derek 10:42AM (5/03/2007)
@Greg
you are right that kinda does look like it i will be looking for this at google earth tonight. Nice job man
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Peter 10:44AM (5/03/2007)
According to another article it was the 'Recyclage d'Auto Yasmine' in Duvernay. If you look up the adress in the Yellow Pages and enter it into Google you get this:
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=laval,+montreal&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=54.753001,76.640625&ie=UTF8&t=h&om=1&ll=45.5937,-73.700634&spn=0.002988,0.006437&z=18
But your's doesn't look bad either, maybe they should take a closer look at that one as well ;-)
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Peter 10:47AM (5/03/2007)
Damn, wrong link.
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=laval,+montreal&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=54.753001,76.640625&ie=UTF8&t=h&om=1&ll=45.5937,-73.700634&spn=0.002988,0.006437&z=18
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Peter 10:48AM (5/03/2007)
Did it again.
3rd time:
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=6405+boulevard+lafayette+duvernay&sll=45.5937,-73.700634&sspn=0.002673,0.004184&ie=UTF8&ll=45.633381,-73.635435&spn=0.005341,0.008368&t=h&z=17&om=1
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gary 12:49PM (5/04/2007)
Besides being on the take the local cops were probably directing traffic for them too.
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Clinton 11:20AM (5/03/2007)
So, did either Peter or Greg just find a new chop shop? That would be totally ironic, and just sad.
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Peter 11:45AM (5/03/2007)
Well, from the air an illegal chop shop won't really look any different from your legal run of the mill junkyard...
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Praeliber 1:53PM (5/03/2007)
#5 this place is in laval, one of the most populated city in the province after Montréal. The fact is that it was just another junk yard and that policeman goes rarely in it to check if those cars we're busted or legaly sold.
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jeffinToronto 2:22PM (5/03/2007)
If they had over 700 cars illegally, they probably had a few thousand junkers as well. I guarantee that the boys wouldn't have just let the general public walk around there either. It was probably a tip from a autobody place or an informant on RCMP payroll.
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Don 5:48PM (5/03/2007)
Hiding in plain sight.
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Barney 5:59PM (5/03/2007)
14. Besides being on the take the local cops were probably directing traffic for them too.
You want to back that up Gary?
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