A few years ago, through a joint public-private operation which was the first among international crime busters, saw the rare chances of a luxury vehicle shipped abroad in a rare traditionally and slim chance.
There were ten Range Rovers, six Audis, three BMWs, one Volkswagen, one Ford, a Nissan, Honda and a Lexus.
The stolen Lexus was what led to the discovery of the smuggling ring as it had been stolen in April 2015, and later tracked to Le Havre, in France, where it was shipped across the Mediterranean Sea and through the Suez Canal down to the Middle Eastern nation of Oman.
Three vehicles confirmed stolen in #INTERPOL’s Motor Vehicles data base, have been intercepted by @DCI_Kenya Detectives concealed in two containers on transit to Uganda from the United Kingdom. The three vehicles are: Range Rover Sport, Range Rover Vogue and Land Rover Discovery. pic.twitter.com/hpEtFUz71m— DCI KENYA (@DCI_Kenya) March 7, 2019
It was then shipped to Mombasa in Kenya before being transported by road to Kampala – where locals drive on the right-hand side – in a steel container.
During investigations, the then National Crime Agency regional manager Paul Stanfield, who tracked the vehicle and uncovered the smuggling gang, said: ‘This investigation is an excellent example of the close co-operation between the UK National Crime Agency, National Vehicle Crime Intelligence Service, Interpol and [anti-fraud investigators] APU to tackle the increasing threat from organised vehicle crime.
The £50,000 SUV was fitted with a state-of-the-art tracking device, which activated as soon as it was taken from outside a property in west London.
As a result the National Crime Agency was able to use a smartphone app to trace the journey of the stolen RX450h 6,000 miles to the Uganda capital Kampala, where they were stunned to find it alongside 28 other luxury cars
worth more than £1 million which had been stolen from the UK by the car-smuggling gang.
The criminals plans could still be active as just recently, three vehicles confirmed stolen in INTERPOL’s Motor Vehicles data base, have been intercepted by Kenya Detectives concealed in two containers on transit to Uganda from the United Kingdom. The three vehicles are: Range Rover Sport, Range Rover Vogue and Land Rover Discovery.
‘The Uganda operation was the first time to been run involving high level of International and cross agency cooperation and it became a real example of how private industry, leading edge technology and expertise can assist law enforcement.
It is believed that all of the stolen vehicles were equipped with keyless ignition, which the criminals managed to breach by using reprogrammed keys to start the cars up and drive off.
Car manufacturers, insurance companies and police forces are facing an uphill battle against the sophisticated method.