“Once, when cars were easier to steal, many thefts were by so-called joyriders,” says Dr German. “Vehicles were often stolen for parts, too, as they sometimes are now. Today the big money is in high-value cars for illegal export. Large but unknown numbers are shipped abroad to fund organised crime.”
Ian Platt, director of the International Association of Auto Theft Investigators, agrees. “When car security improved in the 1990s, it became necessary to steal the car keys first, by breaking into someone’s home. Now thieves don’t need your key, just a blank one they can electronically reprogram with a piece of kit bought online. Organised gangs can easily target luxury cars that fetch high prices abroad. You are unlikely to see it ever again.” This is underlined by the fact that only about 1,000 stolen cars were brought back to the UK last year, by specialised bounty-collecting repatriation agencies.
The bad news for owners of higher-end cars is that many, once stolen, leave the UK within days to feed what the Police ACPO Vehicle Crime Intelligence Service calls an “insatiable appetite” for vehicles in Africa, with other popular destinations, say experts, including Cyprus, Dubai and the Far East, Spain, Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Pakistan.
So why are more stolen cars not recovered?
“Today, it is often highly organised gangs who steal cars and they are far more adept at getting rid of them,” says Platt. “They are run like businesses with almost professional infrastructure They employ the best methods of obtaining cars and the best ways of disposing of them. They have a virtual 'export business’, complete with documentation for stolen cars, and they have the shipping all lined up in advance. They can change number plates and now even have methods of re-registering cars in countries such as Slovakia and Romania. Once your car has been spirited abroad, it can be almost impossible to trace.”
