Warrants have been issued for two people from High River in connection to an organized vehicle theft ring.
In December 2024, the Alberta RCMP Auto Theft Unit, along with the Central Intelligence Service of Alberta and the RCMP Federal Policing Northwest Region Intelligence, identified numerous individuals who were registering fraudulent VINs under an unsuspecting person's name without their permission.
They were using the Alberta Registries Third-Party Authorization system to register those fraudulent VINs.
Third-party Authorizations through the Alberta Registries has been flagged as a loophole that has been exploited by those involved in organized crime to make stolen re-VINned vehicles legitimate.
Once they were registered, the fraudulent VINs were used to conceal stolen vehicles.
To date, the investigation has recovered vehicles in various parts of Canada and overseas.
As part of the investigation, the Alberta RCMP Auto Theft Unit executed several search warrants within Edmonton, along with the help from the Central Alberta District Crime Reduction Unit, the St. Albert RCMP Crime Reduction Unit, and the Edmonton Police Service, which helped them to gather evidence.
As a result of the evidence gathered with the search warrants, seven people have been charged with a total of 99 criminal charges.
"Since the beginning of the investigation, the Alberta RCMP Auto Theft Unit has recovered approximately $1.9 million in stolen vehicles and are currently working to locate more than 150 other vehicles, 30 vehicles being linked to the charged individuals, with further investigational step still ongoing," the RCMP stated in a media release about the thefts.
In addition to the vehicles being seized, authorities seized:
- Over 1 kg of cocaine
- more than 200 Oxycontin pills
- and nearly $10,000 in cash
As a result of the investigation, a warrant has been issued for 56-year-old Loranne Smith of High River for three counts of uttering a forged document, while a warrant has been issued for 61-year-old High River resident Darlene Noel for six counts of uttering a forged document.
In addition to that, 34-year-old Edmonton resident Zachary Frazer has a warrant for seven counts of uttering a forged document.
On top of those warrants, the following people have been charged with:
Mohamed Hajar, a 40-year-old resident of Edmonton has been charged with:
- Uttering Forged Document (x28)
- Fraudulent Concealment (x5)
- Fraud over $5,000
- Illegal Possession of Identity Documents (x6)
- Possession of Property Obtained by Crime (x2)
- Participation in Criminal Organization
- Recruitment of Member for Criminal Organization
- Possession for the Purpose of Trafficking (x2)
Ryan Garford, a 40-year-old resident of Edmonton has been charged with:
- Uttering Forged Document (x22)
- Fraudulent Concealment (x5)
- Fraud over $5,000.
Sean Broyles, a 37-year-old resident of Edmonton has been charged with seven counts of Uttering Forged Document.
Yuvraj Dhillon, a 22-year-old resident of Edmonton, has been charged with:
- Fraud over $5,000
- Trafficking in Property Obtained by Crime over $5,000.
All four of the Edmonton residents will appear in court in Edmonton on July 29.
While these people have been charged in connection to auto theft, the Alberta RCMP says auto theft has dropped in the province.
"Between January and June the Alberta RCMP have seen a continuous drop in Auto thefts 4 years in a row with the highest drop this year of 18 percent. That equates to almost 1000 fewer vehicles stolen by this time of the year when compared to 2022," explained Staff Sergeant Luke Halvorson of the Alberta RCMP Community Safety Unit in the media release. "The RCMP’s commitment to crime reduction principles through units like the Auto Theft, our Crime Reduction Teams, our Community Response Teams and our hard working front line members, is having clear impacts on crime rates."