Posted on 01/05/2024 4:30:23 PM PST by 11th_VA
Cars stolen from the District, Maryland, Virginia, and beyond are winding up in shipping containers, headed overseas, and it’s a problem that customs officials say is getting worse.
Port of Baltimore Director Adam Rottman told FOX 5 that last fiscal year they intercepted 149 stolen cars, but in the last three months, that number is already at 70, on pace to just about double last fiscal year’s total.
"Transnational criminal organizations will make money any way they can, whether it’s drugs, terrorism, human smuggling, selling fake Care Bears, anything they can do to make a dollar," Rottman told FOX 5, "And right now, the market is hot for these stolen cars going over to West Africa."
Criminals will steal the cars, try to quickly rip out any manufacturer-installed GPS tracking systems, and race them to the port before they’re reported stolen, often hiding them in containers packed with random household items in order to conceal the stolen cars.
On Thursday, we found a 2011 Hyundai Elantra that was reported stolen from a Northwest D.C. home last summer, but Rottman says most of the cars that wind up at the port are high-end models like Land Rovers and BMW SUVs…
(Excerpt) Read more at news.google.com ...
Reparations writ large....
A little older and the cars wouldn’t have to travel all the way to Africa.
My late grandmother’s beautiful 1954 Canary color Buick with green interior and whitewall tires may have gone down there.
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"That's how trans people make me feel."
Ouch - my bad on the link - thanks
“Port of Baltimore Director Adam Rottman told FOX 5 that last fiscal year they intercepted 149 stolen cars...”
At this point in our history and with the current democratic governments at all levels, I don’t believe ANYTHING is being done against crime.
The RF codes are available to open and start almost any car.
Advise total battery disconnect when parking.
“The Club” also useful.
Nobody wants to steal my cars.
My CBC network did an expose on this topic. Stolen cars are shipped by the cargo ship load, so it’s very cheap.
Canada, and especially Quebec, is ground zero in North America for West African gangs car thievery.
HA..! We ain't seen nothing yet.! Just wait until all those folks from South America learn their way around the streets. Those people don't live behind all those walls, iron bars and concertina wire for the fun of it. They don't respect private property in any way, shape or form..
I read somewhere that they have raised "ransom" to an art form, so you better hold on to your kids.. :(
“Those people don’t live behind all those walls, iron bars and concertina wire for the fun of it.”
The Awan operation won’t like to hear this
I was in a Durban suburb in 2000 (yes, 23 years ago) and I had to taxi in to the city.
I remember driving for miles down a street with homes behind 8 foot high walls, razor wire, steel gates for the driveway with pictures of guards carrying AKs promising a response within 90 seconds.
I said something to the driver about this, and he said, “yes, just like in America”.
Oh Oh...
Some federal officials didn’t get their usual monthly bribes...
I bet they are not stealing electric cars.
I noticed the same thing driving around Puerto Rico 20 or so years ago. And it wasn’t just urban areas near San Juan, it was way out in the countryside, too. Lots of iron bars and razor wire. Made me nervous to not be carrying. I haven’t been back.
To get the biggest ransom, I’ve heard that liberal college is the best
Wonder if all those illegals crossing the border are involved.
The Nigerian princes has to have drivers too.
Let ‘em go. If the cars keep them there, worth it.
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