Yet another UK investigation is linking Cyprus to a large-scale stolen car scam, with a significant percentage of the vehicles ending up on the island and many unsuspecting (or otherwise) drivers.
Following a recent Thatcham Research Study in collaboration with the British National Crime Intelligence Service (NavCIS), the Economist has brought new evidence to light, coupled by a detailed outline of how ‘major league scammers’, as they are described, con people out of millions, part of a very well organised and coordinated ring.
It all starts on the ground in the UK, where the number of stolen vehicles has risen by a massive 74% over the last decade, with a car theft recorded every four minutes. The Economist describes the British market as ideal potential breeding ground.
Finding the scammers is very much on the wrong end of the scale. According to the evidence, British police only solves 5% of all reported serious crimes, with car thefts down to 2%.
‘Notwithstanding a number of effective custom controls on products entering the UK, export monitoring is heavily inadequate, so it is relatively easy to smuggle stolen goods out,’ The Economist says.
The relevant investigation then turns to recipients and the highly advanced ring making sure that every stolen car will reach a buyer outside Britain. This is where Cyprus comes in.
According to the Economist, around 7% of such vehicles end up on the island, with 5% on Caribbean soil, in Jamaica. The relevant investigation does not differentiate between occupied territories or republic-controlled areas, therefore no distinction can be made as to the circumstances of the transactions or potential buyers.
In the recent past, GPS on new luxury cars has pointed to the north as the main outward point in Cyprus, with a small number in the free areas.
By far the largest percentage of stolen cars from the UK, almost half the number (40%) ends up in the People’s Republic of the Congo, seemingly one of the main car sale hubs on the wider African market. Demand for luxury cars across Africa is reported to be high and rising.
Around 20% of the vehicles have been essentially found in the United Arab Emirates, following extensive flooding in April 2024, with many drivers in SUVs trapped on the roads, as local reps and importers, faced major delays in replacing the cars. Over the next few months, British authorities established a rise in SUV thefts and linked to possible UAE smuggling.
Almost 130 thousand vehicles were reported stolen in Britain last year.
Packed up and dented
Laying out the process used to illegally export the vehicles, the Economist has discovered that the cars are packed up in containers which middlemen secure through shipping companies. During transportation, only some of these containers are opened up for customs control or go through an ‘x-ray’ procedure to verify content. Smugglers exploit these holes in the system to get cars through.
As reported, cramming up all these vehicles in containers and subsequent bumps along the way, often cause significant dents in the body of the cars. But somehow, this does not make a difference in the purchase, as scammers have found ways of fixing the damage and selling them as new. Various sources across the UK report the smuggling process as relatively simple. One stolen car is placed next to a legal export, with the stolen product sometimes registered only as spare parts.
Customs and police
Customs in Cyprus are now aware of this method and conduct wide-ranging container checks. This is called an ‘autodiagnostic control’ procedure, which includes both vehicles and spare parts. If a stolen car is discovered through its diagnostic number, then police are called.