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June 13, 2020 At least thirty luxury cars stolen in Montreal (Canada), such as the Chevrolet "Camaro", or the Mercedes "GLC 4.3 AMG", coupe, SUV, Jeep Land Rover, Hyundai and Honda, the costs of which were between 50 and the more than 100 thousand euros, after being transferred from Montreal in containers by ship, in transit in Italy, were transferred to Turkey and Libya respectively in the ports of Mersin and Khoms and then resold to wealthy people with always high figures, but convenient compared to current market prices. To identify the vast international traffic of stolen cars were investigators of the judicial police of the Border Police of Fiumicino, Salerno and Gioia Tauro in collaboration with the Canadian Police.

A first route of illicit traffic connected Canada with Turkey, after making a short stop in the Salerno port. While a second and more substantial illicit corridor for the transfer of stolen cars passed through the Gioia Tauro airport, then from there to the Libyan coasts. It is precisely in Gioia Tauro that the agents of the Border Police Office have managed to intercept and request the blocking of the entire load of the Canadian forwarder, placed on four distinct cargo ships, from the Customs Office. At that point, the agents and staff of the Customs Agency subjected 25 containers to meticulous checks, using special scanners, and analyzed the related commercial transit documents. Inside the containers, over 100 vehicles were checked, in collaboration with colleagues from Fiumicino, with Canadian police staff and, in cases of doubt on the authenticity of the chassis numbers, with the Palmi traffic police (Reggio Calabria). For the moment, thirty cars have been seized, for a total value of over one and a half million euros.

The investigators of Gioia Tauro and those of the Roman airport are however checking other vehicles and containers, also to establish exactly the places where the thefts occurred. This is because the Canadian area targeted by thieves is very large. The investigations have also shown how neither the pandemic nor the geopolitical situation of North Africa has hindered the illicit trafficking of criminals who have proven to be able to use both existing and new air and naval routes. Just last February, in fact, a new line of maritime transport of rolling loads between Italy and Libya was born, which already foresees a further expansion also along the Turkish coasts.

According to the investigators, it cannot be excluded that this new maritime route could potentially be chosen, in the future, by the same criminal organizations to manage an illegal and profitable business that never knows a crisis.