Posted on 07/18/2007 8:06:35 AM PDT by BGHater
A new report that says stolen cars from Canada and the U.S. are turning up in the hands of terrorists overseas is raising new questions about security at Canada's ports.
Tens of millions of dollars in stolen cars, head out of Canada's ports and overseas every year.
With one car stolen every three minutes in Canada, the cost for all Canadians who pay insurance premiums is more than a billion dollars.
"You've got twenty to thirty-thousand higher-end stolen vehicles leaving Canada every year and they are worth $50,000 each," Richard Dubin, vice-president of investigative services of the Insurance Bureau of Canada, told CTV News.
But the insurance industry accuses the Canada Border Services Agency of not doing everything in its power to stop it.
"We've had situations where members of their operation have indicated that stolen vehicles are headed for example to the Port of Montreal, and even knowing that they let those stolen vehicles proceed out of the port," Dubin said.
The insurance industry has been arguing that stolen cars shipped out of the ports in containers should be searched by the Canada Border Service. But the agency told them they have no jurisdiction.
"When the Insurance Bureau brought them the cold hard facts, and offered them the information, they resisted it, and they're still resisting it to this day," said Dubin.
He added: "I don't think they want to do enforcement work."
There are also mounting concerns about where these cars are heading, according to a recent report in the Boston Globe.
A small number of cars swiped off American streets are sold overseas by criminal networks and end up in the hands of Iraqi insurgents, who are using them as car bombs, according to the FBI.
The FBI has declined to pinpoint how many stolen U.S. cars have been used as car bombs in Iraq but said the number is believed to be at least in the dozens.
In the United States alone, authorities estimate one million vehicles are stolen every year. But only about 35 per cent of them are ever found.
For several years now, the Canadian insurance industry says it warned the government about terrorists profiting from stolen cars.
"The one in particular is Hezbollah, which receives funding from it. It is literally a criminal activity that is used to fund terrorist activities," said Scott Newark, of the National Security Group.
The minister responsible for the Border Service, Stockwell Day, has been aware of the insurance industry's concerns for more than a year.
The minister has sent two separate letters to the Border Service asking what can be done to solve the problem. His office has told CTV News he's expecting an answer quickly.
Meanwhile, the Border Service Agency and the RCMP are collaborating on a joint "working group" in an effort to tackle the issue, Day's office told CTV News.
Ping
Pretty revealing of port security in North America. If you can sneak a full size stolen Mercedes out of the country, what could not be smuggled?
I would say that port security in NA is more focussed on what’s coming into the country, not what’s leaving.
Exactly and apparently the insurance companies appear to want that to change. As it stands now goods that come into the country are the ones inspected not the outgoing. Example normally humans only go thru customs on the way into a country
At one time, the Police Chief in Tijuana was driving a Caddillac stolen from Avis in Denver....
This is, and has been, big business for a couple of decades. And once it’s gone, it’s gone....
Just another of the many ways our wealth subsidizes the rest of the planet....
Shipping a car is not exactly a trivial exercise. Seems a little improbable that if somebody in the middle east needs a throwaway car for a car bomb, that they’d bother to have one shipped from overseas. It’s not like there aren’t thousands of junk cars over there already.
Not that it can’t happen... it just seems to be going to an awful lot of trouble that’s unnecessary.
ping
Muslims are very big in the automobile business here. Garages, gas stations, selling used cars. Stealing them, screwing with vin numbers, insurance fraud, titles screwed with. I’m sure Muzzies are shipping out tons of stolen US cars each year
It's time for a change - enough is enough.
Bump.
To de-fund the terrorists, we need to crack down on muslim criminal enterprises. Whether its rigging gasoline pumps to short you at the local convenience store, selling drugs, stealing cars, or whatever, we need to come down hard on these guys. Added bonus: they go to jail.
"High End" cars used for bombs? Sounds pretty darn financially irresponsible to me. Sounds like BS too...........
From the vehicles I've seen in Iraq, they're only one step above sticking dynamite up a donkey's butt, lighting the fuse then slapping it.......
Yo, Achmed! Lets use YOUR Mercedez next time......
So the insurance customers are buying somebody overseas a mercedes. That’s why I view the insurance co’s as a criminal enterprise.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.