Moncton car dealer Kevin Campbell has lost hope of ever getting his stolen 1991 Chevy truck back.

It took two people less than three minutes to drive the truck off of Campbell’s dealership lot on Moncton’s Salisbury Road in mid-November.

The 1991 Chevrolet C1500 SS 454, listed for more than $28,000, has not been recovered despite several efforts by Campbell.

His is just one example among the 1,888 vehicles that were stolen as of Tuesday in New Brunswick in 2024 — excluding Saint John and Fredericton which have their own police forces and statistics — according to the New Brunswick  RCMP’s year-to-date occurrence data.

Of that number, 576 vehicles — or 30 per cent — were stolen in Moncton, Dieppe and Riverview alone.

Campbell said it’s “very disappointing, disheartening.”

“You feel violated. You work so hard in business and in life to obtain the things you have and for somebody just to walk into your life on your property and just take it from you is just so violating.”

The stolen truck was a black 1991 Chevrolet C1500 SS 454 and was listed for more than $28,000. (Campbell’s Auto Sales)

Campbell’s property is equipped with an AI-based security system. The cameras track movement, flash red and blue lights, and sound an alarm. The system also allows a security guard to talk to trespassers. He said he’s spent more than $10,000 on it, but it still didn’t stop the truck theft.

He said he’s now looking to invest in tracking devices for his vehicles and fences for his parking lot, since potential thieves have not left him alone after stealing his truck.

“I had two more individuals masked on my property late at night and behind my building being dropped off — my security system picked them up, the lights went off and it did deter them and they left,” said Campbell.

“I’ve had homeless people since then … that are looking through my vehicles if there’s anything to be stolen. So yeah, this problem has not gone away for me and to be quite frank, it makes you question if you even want to be in business.”

Campbell said he understands that the police are working hard to stop these crimes, but he wants to see stricter punishment from all three levels of government to curb car thefts.

He said he is trying to take a layered approach to protect his vehicles but it’s becoming too expensive for his small business.

Thieves turning to Atlantic Canada, says IBC

According to the RCMP annual report, there were 1,610 motor vehicle thefts in 2023, which means thefts increased in 2024 by 17 per cent — and counting, since the report still has to be updated from Tuesday.

Between 2022 and 2023 the increase was approximately 13 per cent.

“Opportunistic car thieves are increasingly shifting their focus to Atlantic Canada and away from provinces such as Ontario and Quebec, which have invested significantly in combating auto theft,” said Amanda Dean, vice-president, Ontario and Atlantic, for the Insurance Bureau of Canada, in a news release.

Amanda Dean is the vice-president of the Atlantic region for the Insurance Bureau of Canada. (Kyle Mooney/Radio-Canada)

“The growth in auto theft in Atlantic Canada is putting pressure on auto premiums and compromising the safety and security of residents,” the release stated.

This shift was predicted in a previous CBC interview by Bryan Gast, vice-president for investigative services at Équité Association, an organization that works to stop crime on behalf of the Canadian property and casualty insurance industry.

Bryan Gast says vehicles need to be made harder to steal by manufacturers. Residents should also take extra safety precautions using safety devices, he said. (David Common/CBC)

He said these criminals are “transient and opportunistic.”

Gast said even though national numbers saw a dip in the first half of 2024, according to the data collected by his organization, auto theft in the country is still very high when compared to what it was four years ago.

He said the crime is organized and financially motivated, where these stolen vehicles are either exported, sold for parts, or their vehicle identification numbers are changed so they can be re-sold. In some cases, they’re used to commit other petty crimes, he said.

“The only positive sign there is the operational enforcement side is strong. We still need to make the vehicle harder to steal in the first place for a sustained decline in auto theft in Canada,” he said.