Crime gangs sending 70 stolen cars overseas every week
If your car was stolen, there’s a very high chance it’s no longer in Australia. This is where four in 10 unrecovered stolen cars end up, with experts revealing a shocking $45 million crime gang racket.
Police & Courts
Don't miss out on the headlines from Police & Courts. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Crime gangs are shipping stolen Australian cars overseas at a rate of 70 a week.
Experts say the rackets are worth up to $45 million a year as more than 3500 vehicles are packed up and sent abroad by the syndicates.
It is estimated upwards of 1000 of the illegal exports have been stolen in Victoria.
Four in 10 unrecovered cars stolen in Australia end up on foreign roads, the National Motor Vehicle Theft Reduction Council says.
Many are frequently freighted to staging points in Malaysia before heading to the Middle East.
The vast majority of the cars are pre-2010 models with an average value of $11,000, owned by average Australians, NMVTRC chief executive Geoff Hughes said.
“These people (the criminals) are earning a lot of money that’s leaving people who can least afford to lose a car without their vehicle.”
The cars are crammed whole into shipping containers or stripped back to parts before beginning the journey to overseas buyers. The national unrecovered passenger and light- commercial figure of 9380 — regarded as profit-motivated thefts — is based on state and territory figures from 2018.
Only 15 per cent of those were valued at over $50,000.
The Federal Parliamentary Joint Committee on Law Enforcement last year made two key recommendations to try to stem the flow.
One is that the Customs Act is amended to create a separate offence to export stolen motor vehicles and parts.
There is already a list of products prohibited for export, which carry huge fines of up to $525,000 for breaches.
“We want stolen vehicles and parts added to that list. We’ve got to change the risk-reward equation,” Mr Hughes said.
The other recommendation was that a national strategy be developed to reduce the illicit vehicle export trade.
MORE NEWS
SEARCH FOR MISSING AFTER HORROR TRAIN CRASH KILLS TWO
HEROIC PASSENGER HURT IN ATTEMPT TO FREE TRAIN DRIVER
The federal government confirmed last night it is currently considering the recommendations in the report.
“The Home Affairs Portfolio is considering the recommendations of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Law Enforcement report on Theft and Export of Motor Vehicles and Parts,” an Australian Border Force spokesman said. “The ABF takes seriously illicit trade activity at Australia’s borders. We undertake regular compliance action against suspected illicit activity, including false or misleading declarations under the Customs Act 1901.”
The Herald Sun can also reveal there has been a blowout in the amount of time which recovered vehicles spend before being found. Those cars were missing for an average of one day in 2009, but this rose to four days by 2018.