In an astonishing turn of events, a car stolen from a Toronto driveway in Canada has been discovered parked in Ghana, approximately 8,500 kilometers from where it was taken.
The remarkable discovery was made by David Common, a journalist from CBC News who has been investigating stolen vehicles from Canada.
The car’s original owner, Len Green, was contacted by the CBC journalist after his phone number was found inside the vehicle.
Green had lost his vehicle to thieves in 2022 and had no knowledge of its whereabouts until this unexpected call from Ghana.
During the phone call, Common informed Green, “I’m calling from CBC News. We’re doing an investigation into stolen vehicles, and I’m pretty sure I’m sitting in your vehicle in West Africa.”
Green was understandably shocked to learn that his stolen car had ended up so far from its original location, exclaiming “I can’t believe it … that’s crazy.”
The surprising revelation was captured in a video posted on TikTok by CBC.
In the same lot, journalists found dozens of other vehicles, some with Canadian licence plates, often with their provincial registration and insurance documents still in the glove box.
All had been reported stolen from Ontario and Quebec. In 2021, there were just over 27,000 vehicles stolen from Ontario alone, according to a recent report by the Canadian Financing and Leasing Association. That’s a car stolen every 17 minutes.