A months-long investigation into a “sophisticated and organized” vehicle theft ring has resulted in the arrest of five people and the seizure of 28 luxury vehicles that were in the process of being shipped overseas for resale, police say.

The investigation, dubbed Project Baijin, commenced in April after members of the Peel Regional Police Commercial Auto Bureau raided an industrial unit near Pearson International Airport and seized six stolen vehicles worth an estimated $620,000.

Two Chinese nationals, who were in Canada on students visas, were arrested at the time and charged with possession of stolen property and possession of property obtained by crime for the purpose of trafficking.

According to Det. Sgt. Don Jorgensen, investigators were eventually able to determine that an organized ring was stealing high-end vehicles in Ontario, Quebec and British Columbia and loading them onto shipping containers bound for China and several European countries.

He said that in many cases the suspects agreed to purchase and finance the vehicles using fraudulent identities and employment records and simply ceased to make payments. In other cases, he said that the vehicles were stolen from their rightful owners and loaded onto shipping containers within hours.

The stolen vehicles included a Bentley GTC valued at $263,000, a Mercedes Benz GT50 valued at $230,000 and a Mercedes-Benz G63 valued at $200,000.

Several less expensive vehicles with high demand overseas, such as the Jeep Wrangler, were also stolen, Jorgensen said.

The combined value of all of the recovered vehicles is $2.2 million.

“The market for these vehicles overseas is high,” Jorgensen told reporters during a press conference at Peel Regional Police headquarters. “There are limits to certain vehicles that get imported to different countries and the access to different vehicles in different countries makes them more valuable.”

Police worked with CBSA to intercept stolen vehicles

Jorgensen said that once police realized that the ring was attempting to send the vehicles overseas, they worked with the Canadian Border Services Agency to identify and intercept shipping containers containing the vehicles at the port in Montreal.

He said that while only 28 vehicles have been seized to date, police are aware of the location of at least 50 vehicles, most of which are still in Canada.

“The process from stealing the vehicle to actually getting it on a container could be as quick as hours,” he said.

Jorgensen said the two Chinese nationals that were taken into custody in April were rearrested on Tuesday and charged with additional offences. Three other people were also taken into custody on Tuesday.

He Cui, 24, from Markham, Wenqi Li, 26, from Markham, Krisztien Nemes, 44, from Brampton, Ryan Gillard, 42, from Mississauga, and Radivoje Tadic, 24, all facing charges related to identity fraud, identity theft, possession of stolen property and trafficking stolen property.

Several additional suspects remain outstanding, Jorgensen said.

Speaking with reporters at the press conference, Peel Regional Police Chief Chris McCord said that the bust is “the perfect example of the quality of work that can happen when multiple agencies share information and work together for a common goal.”

“What started out as a small local investigation led us to a highly orchestrated organized crime ring,” he said.