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It looks like the biggest sales lot in the world, stocked with high-end vehicles like Hummers, Porsches and Cadillacs. But you can't find this place anywhere on earth. At least not legally.
They're just a few of the cars seized in a major OPP joint operations bust called Project Eastbound, in which a gang of thieves made off with expensive cars worth at least $6 million.

Fifty of the pricey rides were pilfered from owners in Ontario, Quebec and New Brunswick and then rerouted here, where they were given phony Vehicle Identification Numbers.

Those digits are assigned to every car made so it can be easily identified. When the VIN's are changed and reregistered, the chance of matching a stolen car to its original owner becomes significantly more difficult.

The stolen vehicles were then resold in the same provinces where they were taken from, garnering easy money and leaving the original owners without their high priced wheels.

Seven people, mostly from the Barrie area, have been charged with a total of 184 offences, including fraud, possession of stolen property and uttering forged documents.

Another seven are still being sought in the 14-month long investigation.

It's a small dent in a huge problem.

The Insurance Bureau of Canada estimates 160,000 cars were taken illegally from all provinces last year - and a third of those were never recovered. Records show about 50 stolen vehicles leave the country for parts unknown every day.

And it's no longer just restricted to the random car thief.

The profit margins are so high, officials believe organized crime has moved into the activity, leaving the crooks well financed with all the latest tools and the means to get the automobiles into the waiting hands of the less than honest looking for a bargain.

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