Police on Vancouver Island have issued a public warning after several business owners were targeted by thieves who reportedly employed GPS trackers.
According to the RCMP, there have been at least two break-ins in Campbell River and similar incidents in the Comox Valley that appear to be targeting the homes of entrepreneurs of Asian descent.
Police believe the thieves are using GPS trackers to know when the business owners are away from their homes, Campbell River RCMP spokesperson Const. Maury Tyre explained.
“(They) typically have some tight timelines about when they have to be at work and pretty much everyone in the family is away and at work at those times,” he said.
“In this case, when we are looking at GPS trackers being used on a vehicle to try and enable this type of crime from occurring without being caught, that shows a level of organization.”
The Campbell River break-ins occurred on March 6 at a home in the 600-block of Garden Way and on March 7 at a home in the 2100-block of Joanne Drive. The incidents in the Comox Valley began in late February, according to police.
Police said they believe the suspects may have visited the homes before the break-ins to check if anyone was there, and that if they ran into the homeowners, may have claimed they were at the wrong house.
While some tracking devices like the Apple AirTag can be quite small, Tyre said many other devices are about the size of a hockey puck.
“I would encourage any of the folks with a small business in that sense to even just give their car a quick little scan,” he said.
“Typically in order to place them, someone is not going to crawl really deep underneath to make sure it is very well hidden, it’s something that’s got to be done quite quickly.”
Police are urging homeowners to take extra steps to safeguard their homes against break-ins, including installing security lights or cameras, and double-checking that all doors and windows are locked.
They’re also advising people to keep valuables locked in a safe and to have a home security system.
People who live in the neighbourhoods where the break-ins occurred are also being asked to review any home security video they have and to report anything suspicious to police.