Police are inspecting a chop shop operation in Schomberg where they say the owners were buying stolen cars from the GTA and dismantling them to sell parts on the black market.
Police allege Japanese Used Auto Parts had chopped up between 500 and 700 cars, mainly Toyotas and Hondas.
"It's one of the biggest cop shops I've seen in a long time," said Det. Sgt. Lou Malbeuf, who leads the York Regional Police auto and car theft unit.
The business has been in that location for 10 years, said Malbeuf.
On Thursday, police searching the property found hundreds of doors and everything from steering columns to tires.
When it comes to stolen cars, a thief might get between $500-$700 for the whole car, but can get up to $10,000 for all the individual parts, particularly on import brands such as Toyota and Honda.
Taking the car apart into its individual parts also makes it less identifiable, Malbeuf said.
"If you take the parts, a lot of the parts are not identifiable, sell it on the black market and make $7,000, $8,000 on it," he said. "It's a big markup on it."
Malbeuf stood next to a black Toyota Matrix that was stolen in Peel Region 10 days ago. A little more than a week later, the car was only a shell.
"It was just stolen last week. As you can see, it's almost to its bare bones," Malbeuf said.
In chop shop operations, it's common for the shop to first get an order and then get someone to steal the car that corresponds to the needed parts, Malbeuf said.
"They need the parts, so they'll go steal the car for the exact parts," said Malbeuf.
Malbeuf said the parts from the shop were likely sold to the general public, and also to smaller mechanic shops in the Toronto area.
Police have charged Winston Harris, 55, with possession of stolen property. They say more charges are likely.
With files from Tamara Cherry.
