Police find suspected 'cool off site' for stolen vehicles amid rampant auto theft in Ontario

The country has an auto theft problem so severe the Insurance Bureau of Canada has called it a 'national crisis'

TORONTO — Scott Cresswell was behind the wheel of an unmarked white police truck as he drove across the Greater Toronto Area looking for compounds that might be used to hide stolen vehicles.

The York Regional Police detective entered a crowded commercial zone in Mississauga, Ont., where dozens of cars were parked, scanning for suspicious signs. He then drove to a neighbourhood outside the Halton Hills region, where a large, isolated home sat near farmland, surrounded by a fenced yard.