A major identity theft ring that could have victimized hundreds of people in Greater Victoria has been broken up, police say.
The piece of evidence that made it possible was a single TV found during a raid in Esquimalt last week. That TV, part of a $30,000 haul of drugs and stolen property, was bought using a stolen credit card, said Staff Sgt. Dave Bown, head of the Regional Crime Unit.
The investigation led police to focus their attention on a house on Hulford Street in Saanich and a 43-year-old man living there.
After arresting the man – whose name has not yet been released – and four others as they left the house, police found stolen mailbox keys. That evidence was enough to get a search warrant on the house, where the unit found a "stack" of stolen credit cards, Bown said.
"They go into apartment buildings and they open the super boxes. And they go in there and take whatever they can and then they come back and sort through it and take the credit cards out," said Bown, adding several income tax return cheques and bank cards were also found.
"These guys are very well organized. I would estimate the number of victims with this group of people is in the hundreds."
Police have located only one victim so far, but expect to find more over the course of next week as they sift through the stolen mail.
Police also found counterfeit cash and property believed to be have been bought with the stolen cards. They also found a large volume of chemicals used to make the "date-rape drug" GHB, but don't know if that will lead to additional charges.
"I don't think there's a charge for possession of floor stripper and lye separately but we're going to look into that further," said Bown.
The man at the centre of the investigation is facing several charges of possessing stolen property and fraud. Bown said he has a long history with police and had ties to the central suspect in the Esquimalt bust, Christopher Anderson Bridgen.
Also facing charges are three men and one woman, all between 20 and 30 years old. They face a variety of charges related to possession of counterfeit currency, stolen property and break-and-enter tools.
By Keith Vass
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