Toronto police recovered more than 1,000 stolen vehicles from city residents, police announced today, Wednesday, marking the end of an investigation that lasted nearly a year into car thefts.

The police said that Project Stallion, which began implementation between November 2022 and September 2023, resulted in the recovery of 1,080 vehicles with a total value of over $59 million.

It also added that the project led to 553 charges against 228 individuals, with at least 20 of them being under the age of 18.

The conclusion of the project comes as the city continues to face rising rates of vehicle thefts. So far in 2023, 9,747 cars have been stolen in Toronto. Throughout the investigation, over 3,500 vehicles were stolen in just two police divisions - the division representing Etobicoke and northwest Toronto.

This also follows last week's announcement that Ontario Provincial Police and Toronto Police have established a joint regional task force aimed at addressing the rise in car theft incidents. At that time, they said that nearly 300 car thefts had been reported in the GTA so far this year, over 200 of which occurred in Toronto.

Police stated that youth and younger individuals are behind many of these thefts. While individual thefts occur, they said the force is attempting to target their investigations towards the larger groups behind these organized operations.

While hundreds of individuals have been arrested and charged, police said that most of them are considered to be at the lower end of the crime spectrum.

For his part, Chief Myron Demkiw said that the project represents just one of the strategic and intelligence initiatives launched by the service to address the issue of car thefts in Toronto and across the GTA.

He called on automobile manufacturers and the shipping industry to ramp up efforts and get in the game, stating that police are just one part of the solution.