It goes against the grain for Canadians to think of no-go areas anywhere in the country, places where police don't dare enter, where laws that govern everyone else in the country don't apply.
Things are not quite that bad at the Six Nations of the Grand River reserve in Ontario, but they're bad enough. Between 2004 and 2006, more than 1,200 stolen vehicles valued at an estimated $33 million were hauled away from the reserve, the country's most populous.
The number was lower last year, but more than a car a day is still being found. Police say other stolen cars are hidden in forested parts of the reserve. This is a substantial haul, with all the earmarks of an organized criminal enterprise.
The 18,000-hectare reserve is policed by just 28 native officers. The Ontario Provincial Police rarely enter the reserve unless the Six Nations police invite them.
This isn't the most efficient of policing arrangements. Detective Constable Wesley Barnes of the OPP-led joint forces auto-theft team told the Globe and Mail that "Some cars stay buried in the woods for years," adding, "If you gave me a helicopter and the time, I could find you 100 stolen cars."
Unlike the untaxed-cigarette trade that native reserves ply within their borders, there is no legal grey area when it comes to stolen cars. Theft is illegal. The organizers are shadowy but the actual thieves are often unlicensed, underage drivers.
Treating a reserve as a giant stolen-goods warehouse is crossing the line. The OPP should go in and clear the place out.