What strikes me as odd about this is that the laptops weren't encrypted to begin with. Relying on remote encryption to protect the data could have been defeate

What strikes me as odd about this is that the laptops weren't encrypted to begin with. Relying on remote encryption to protect the data could have been defeated by simply taking the network offline at the beginning of the raid. Potentially a remote lock prevents employees of Uber Canada being ordered to decrypt the data as they lack the means, but presumably such a court order would lead to head office having to decrypt the data anyway.