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Where does your stolen car end up? The parts of the world criminal gangs typically transport them to
Your stolen car could be halfway around the world in the blink of an eye as well-funded gangs have established a seamless supply network to ship pinched motors from the UK to various locations across the globe.
And we can reveal the major routes organised criminal operations are typically taking to export stolen cars to different countries - with many of these vehicles ending up as far away as Africa.
A new joint investigation by Thatcham Research and the National Vehicle Crime Intelligence Service (NaVCIS) has laid bare for the first time the international scale of UK vehicle crime operations.
It found that a motor stolen in the UK is most likely to end up in the Democratic Republic of Congo, with 38.5 per cent of robbed cars exported there.
With geography a key factor, Congo's central positioning on the African continent, deep seaport, and borders with nine countries make it an ideal distribution hub for stolen vehicles.
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is the second most common destination (20.1 per cent), followed some way behind by Cyprus (6.7 per cent).
Despite the UK having the highest levels of in-vehicle security - such as trackers and immobilisers - in the world, a vehicle is stolen every five minutes, based on 2024 data.
Earlier this week This is Money revealed Britain's most targeted cars, with Lexus and Abarth the brands proportionally most likely to be pinched based on the volume of thefts against the number of available cars in the UK.
The investigation found that Jamaica and Georgia were the fourth and fifth most popular export markets for car theft gangs between the years 2021 and 2024.
Respectively, 5.7 per cent and 5.1 per cent of stolen UK cars ended up in these countries.
The huge spike in motor crime and illegal exports is being driven by a number of wide-ranging factors, including the scarcity of vehicle parts, desirability of certain markets and models, geopolitical events, and even natural disasters.
Geography might play a key role in Congo, but flooding in the UAE last April is believed to be behind the surge in thefts of SUVs, with criminal enterprises exploiting the shortage of official replacement vehicles and spare parts by using stolen motors to fill the void.
Thatcham gives the example that dealerships of targeted brands were quoted three months for the delivery of a replacement vehicle whereas it can take a ship just 25 days to travel from London Gateway to Jevel Ali, south-west of Dubai.
Cyprus, like Congo, has a geographical pull; it's a gateway country to other destinations for parts and vehicles which border the Mediterranean.
Jamaica, on the other hand, has seen a rise in part due to the imposition of an imported car tariff, making criminal trade more profitable.
And because both Cyprus and Jamaica drive on the left, the high standard specification of UK vehicles and the steering wheel position are key factors in these markets appearing third and fifth respectively.
The investigation reveals the typical routes taken by criminal organisations shipping stolen cars around the world
Georgia is one of the countries that's seen geopolitical factors have an impact on the illegal vehicle market.
Heavy sanctions and withdrawal of an official presence by manufacturers in neighbouring Russia has seen an increase in demand for vehicles and parts, with Georgia a key destination for stolen cars.
The conflict in the region has also altered the types of vehicles being stolen, with pickup trucks rising to 16.8 per cent of vehicles intercepted in 2024, up from 4.7 per cent the year before.
Chief research and operations officer at Thatcham, Richard Billyeald commented: 'Parts scarcity, vehicle desirability, natural disasters and geopolitical events is driving an illegal market in a wide variety of luxury cars, SUVs and pickups, with insurers settling claims worth £640m in 2024.
'We will continue to work with vehicle makers to improve vehicle security and establish how to remotely disable stolen vehicles in a safe manner, as well as making stolen parts more difficult to reuse.'
Investigators open up a shipping container at Felixstowe amid suspicions stolen cars are inside
Dispatches: Britain's Car Theft Gangs Exposed is on Channel 4
On Thursday, a Channel 4 Dispatches documentary showed the NaVCIS action attempting to tackle illegal exports of stolen UK cars.
This included the dramatic opening of a shipping container at a UK port, revealing three pick-up trucks inside which were intended to be smuggled to Africa.
As Thatcham's research highlights, the Middle East and Africa have a huge market for second-hand car parts, driving the demand for stolen cars in the UK which is also linked to illegal drugs market.
Adam Gibson, an officer of NaVCIS, a privately funded force working with the UK police, carried out the sting along with his team, where the stolen cars were found stacked on top of each other with falsified paperwork.
Mr Gibson said: 'They've got £40,000 plus per car. That's not how you load them in a container. This box is headed to Africa, which the roads out in Africa are obviously suited to this kind of thing.'
A white pick-up truck Mr Gibson found had a 2022 number plate - but he determined that it was actually made in 2023 and had been reported stolen from Kent in January.
He continued: 'Whereas we were finding Range Rovers worth £150,000, we're getting pickup trucks and SUVs worth £40,000 now.
Stolen cars are stacked in the containers, sometimes with five models inside
Casual theft has disappeared but criminal gangs have taken over
Thatcham said the rise in vehicle crime is the direct result of organised gangs operating criminal businesses for huge financial gain, which now far overshadows the volume of 'casual thefts' seen in Britain previously.
Billyeald said: 'Casual thefts and joy riding of the 1980s and '90s has all but disappeared, with vehicle manufacturers having succeeded in making it very difficult for amateurs to steal modern vehicles.
'However, the organised criminal gangs who have replaced them are well-funded and sophisticated in their approach, combining specialist electronic equipment with an international logistics network.'
He said that a collaborative approach needs to be established in order to take down these criminal operations.
'Raising vehicle security alone will not prevent thefts, we believe that beating these criminals requires cooperation between government agencies, vehicle manufacturers and ourselves to reduce the value of stolen assets and therefore the incentive to steal them,' he told us.
