Peterborough police say a trailer and a “large quantity” of firearms reported stolen on the weekend have been recovered in Peel Region.
Early Wednesday, police issued a statement that the trailer and its contents are being returned to the Peterborough Police Service and manufacturer Savage Arms to determine if anything is missing among the more than 2,000 small calibre firearms and magazines. Savage Arms, based in nearby Lakefield, said the theft involved one of its shipping partners.
According to the Peel Regional Police, on Monday uniform officers from 21 Division located the tractor truck portion in the area of Deerhurst Drive and Goreway Drive in Brampton just near the Mississauga border.
On Tuesday, Peel investigators located the trailer with firearms in the area of Cantay Road and Mavis Road, in Mississauga, about 17.5 kilometres south of the truck’s location.
In addition, a trailer loaded with plastic cellphane wrap valued at $50,000, reported stolen from the Niagara region, was also located.
“We are incredibly grateful to our investigative teams and partners for their work on recovering these stolen firearms and related property,” said Peel deputy chief of investigative and emergency services Nick Milinovich. “The community safety implications could have been devastating. Thankfully, their collective commitment to this investigation has extinguished this risk.”
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A truck and trailer carrying the firearms were stolen around 3 a.m. Sunday from a trucking company on Parkhill Road East in Peterborough. A blue four-door sedan was seen arriving to the trucking company parking lot and leaving with the truck.
On Tuesday afternoon, police said their investigation did not appear to connect the theft of the firearms to the ongoing protests across Ontario. Police were calling it “an isolated crime of opportunity” as the evidence showed the suspects had earlier tried to steal trucks from other commercial yards.
A search for the suspects, however, continues as of Wednesday morning.
“Peterborough Police would like to thank Peel Regional Police and the other law enforcement agencies that continue to assist with this case. Thank you to public and media for helping to get the descriptions of the vehicles involved out,” police said.
In a statement, Savage Arms said they are working with authorities to assess the inventory found but would not provide any further comment, citing the ongoing investigation.
Anyone with information is asked to contact Det. Const. Mike Penney at the Peterborough Police Service at 705-876-1122 ext. 232 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or online at stopcrimehere.ca
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