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Cops bust north Richmond ‘chop shop’

Richmond Mounties worked with Vancouver Police to catch suspected thieves
Graeme Wood
Chop shop
A chop shop was busted by Richmond RCMP on River Road in Richmond in December, 2015. Pictured here is a disassembled Honda.

On Monday, Richmond RCMP arrested a 32-year-old-woman, alleged to have been operating a chop shop in an industrial area of north Richmond.

A joint investigation by the Richmond RCMP Property Crime Unit and the Vancouver Police Department Auto Crime Enforcement Unit led to the arrest.

Officers executed a search warrant on Monday afternoon in the 11000 block of River Road and found a dismantled Acura sedan, a Honda coupe and an assortment of auto parts.

“A chop shop, as it is commonly referred to, is a location used for stripping vehicles down to thpeir component parts. These parts may then be re-sold. Individuals that are associated to a chop shop may also be engaged in re-VINing the identification of a stolen vehicle or badly damaged vehicle,” said Cpl. Dennis Hwang. 

“This particular location appeared to specialize in Japanese vehicles and parts, but some domestic vehicle parts were also recovered,” added Hwang.

According to ICBC, on average, during the past five years, about 6,000 vehicles are stolen each year in the Lower Mainland, however the numbers have been declining year over year.