Rental cars stolen from airport lot in Halifax

In the first two weeks of September, thieves were able to foil security devices at car rental companies operating from Halifax Airport in order to steal cars. Fences were dismantled and spike belts were covered with pieces of wood in order to enable the thefts.

From the Avis lot, twelve cars of several different makes and models were stolen while in the Hertz lot, four Volvos were taken.

Traditionally, Montreal has been considered the airport car-theft capital of Canada. Like Montreal, Halifax is also located on a port, causing one criminology professor to speculate if Montreal criminals weren’t behind the Halifax thefts.

According to the professor, such a well organized and large-scale left requires the coordination of an organized crime group. Such groups usually operate from port cities due to the ease in transporting the stolen goods from there to Europe and the Middle East. The groups are well organized from young offenders hired to steal cars, to those with connections at the port, inside agents able to steal and replicate keys from rental agencies and agents abroad who buy the stolen goods.

A spokesperson from Avis claimed that this was the first time they had experienced such a theft. According to the spokesperson, the cars were taken from the servicing lot where cars are taken for repairs and cleaning.

While it may be the first incident of its kind in Halifax, in Montreal over 300 cars have been taken from the parking lot of the Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport over the past two years.

www.avis.com