Three high-end vehicles stolen in Ottawa over the last few weeks have now been recovered in Montreal.  Ottawa Police confirm a spike in the theft of these luxury cars, from 12 in all of 2017 to 35 so far this year.

At least one Ottawa woman who had her Lexus recovered in Montreal is speculating about who is stealing these cars and why.   

Marnie Bennett pulls up to her house in her replacement Lexus, after her first one was stolen Father's Day weekend, along with a number of other Lexus vehicles in the same Otttawa neighbourhood.  Then a couple days ago, Bennett received a phone message from a police officer,

“I'm just calling to advise you that your Lexus has been recovered and it's available to be released,” the officer said.

Police wouldn't give any more details other than to say her Lexus was in Montreal now. 

“It took an awful long time,” says Bennett, “Mine was taken Father’s Day and it's been over six weeks now.”

In that time, only three cars have been recovered but several more stolen including three from one driveway over a period of a couple of months and another last week, all in the same neighbourhood, all high-end Lexus vehicles. 

“There's obviously more to this,” says Bennett, “Why are all these cars being stolen in the last few months?  Why, in 2018 has it escalated to such a level?”

We know now of at least three vehicles stolen from Ottawa that have been recovered in Montreal in the past few weeks. Police wouldn't confirm that but it wouldn't be the first time that the port in Montreal has been used as an access route out of this country.  There is growing concern about what these vehicles might be used for.”

David Harris is the Director of the International Intelligence Program, INSIGNIS Strategic Research, “Is this the result of greed and crooked behavior,” he says, “or are you dealing with an international level terrorist organization and, if it is the latter, what does that say about that organization's tentacles and how they might extend into our communities?”

Bennett isn't sure who had her car or why but she's taking measures to make sure her current Lexus doesn't disappear.

“Now I'm learning how to put this club on,” she says, as she adjusts a lock around her steering wheel, “At night, we've gotten extra cameras, extra lighting and now my husband is barricading my car with an older car.  That's what we're doing.  What a way to be living.”