Car shortage problem? not for today’s thieves, writes Ken German.
Depending on who you speak to the new car market is described as either rallying against its earlier shortage of computer chips, or its customers are still suffering from a dearth of those vital spare parts that have incurred long waiting lists for new models, some of which could not be fulfilled for six and even nine months and certainly well into 2022. This pending perfect storm saw British car production manufacture only 37,000 cars in August, because the industry depended almost solely on Taiwan and South Korea for its supplies.
The second hand car market however appears to be doing very well with an average of £2,000 being added to some used models. The Dacia Sandero for example, which normally sells new for less that £10,000 would today see a second hand example with less than 10,000 miles on its clock selling for around £12,000.
Needless to say organised car gangs involved in vehicle crime, eager to exploit new opportunities, were quick to take full advantage of this phenomenon and have noticeably become very active particularly in their ‘Chop Shop’ operations that appear to be multiplying quicker than a virus. Many of these new illegal ‘slaughters’ as they are known colloquially, have been discovered by police officers to be working 24/7 in the act of dismantling stolen cars and motorcycles to fill their order books.
Only a few ‘auto-crime focused’ forces however are actively engaged in looking for them; the simple reason being, as one officer suggested, is that if you don’t look for them you won’t find them. It is however that in premises like these, evidence was found that the gangs that run these illegal yards have found a market for all most anything with an engine and not just cars and motorcycles. Motor homes, plant and agricultural equipment, golf trolleys, ride-on lawn mowers and even mobility scooters are now targets.
The gangs also took advantage of the petrol tanker driver crisis by siphoning off and storing their stolen fuel so they could continue operating to fill their quotas, however long that took. A global shortage of haulage drivers capable of offloading and delivering freight also created a congested shipping container problem at many of our UK container ports which are already backlogged.
These shipping containers today are difficult to rent with shipping charges now ten times higher than they were six months ago; cargo storage has become a lot harder to find and shipping times have doubled.
Annoyingly this epidemic has not affected our criminal organisations too much; in fact figures just released from the National Crime Intelligence Service (NCIS) suggest that in the first nine months of 2021, £2.96m of stolen vehicles were successfully identified at Felixstowe, Tilbury (pictured) and Southampton ports alone. This relaters to a 112 per cent increase on that of 12 months ago.
The value of these stolen vehicles of which 38 per cent were Range Rovers, 10pc Fords, 8pc Mercedes, BMW and Land Rover had all doubled, from £22,000 per vehicle in 2020 to £41,000 in 2021. Where they were bound was also a surprise as 37pc were destined for Limassol in Cyprus. This has always been a great conduit for stolen cars heading for the Middle East in the past but less so in recent years. Predictable however is the 19pc to the ports of Boma and Banana in the Democratic Republic of Congo, 11pc to Accra in Ghana and 6pc to Zayed, Khalifa or Khor Fakkan Container Terminal in UAE.
Professional convicted car thieves serving a custodial sentences suggest that for a night’s work they would usually steal a specific vehicle or piece of equipment from a list of known places where such items would be found. Ironically on occasions when the shipping containers used by the gangs could not be filled with stolen cars, stolen freight, cargo and even the HGVs that carried them would be loaded in them. Some 4,468 notifications of these freight and cargo theft crimes were received by police in 2020 or 12 every day.
The following police force areas recorded the highest number of cargo offences, Essex Police (335), Thames Valley Police (327), Kent Police (284), South Yorkshire Police (276) and Bedfordshire Police (255). Together, these forces accounted for a third of all reported thefts.
No doubt our motor industry problem will be resolved soon but organised vehicle crime is an international business that has a huge network that will collectively monitor and capitalise on any such opportunity that occurs in any country. Whilst our current theft total is a modest (compared with previous years) 90’000 vehicles, it is of concern that 72pc of these are never returned to their owners (according to the ONS).
Vehicle owners worried about theft should consider the following advice:
It goes without saying to always lock your vehicle, even when filling up or when it’s parked on your drive. If your wing mirrors fold in automatically when locked, always check these as criminal gangs are looking for vehicles with wing mirrors that are not folded because it indicates the vehicle has been left unlocked.
Keep the car keys safe, out of view when at home and away from your front door. It’s not uncommon for car keys to be stolen from inside your home by thieves fishing for them with a stick and hook. When not in use, keep your electronic car key in a security pouch to prevent it being scanned by thieves.
This can also apply when you are away from home but are close to your vehicle. The signal can still be extracted from the key in your pocket or bag.
Be aware of car hijackers. In traffic, drive with the doors locked and when queuing leave enough space in front of your vehicle to enable you to get out of a tight spot. It depends where you are and what car you are driving but if you feel volatile practice doing it.
Avoid parking in dark and secluded areas. It’s worth an extra five- or ten-minute walk if it means your vehicle is safe. If possible, try and park in illuminated and staffed car parks or those with a Park Mark safer parking award.
Watch out for illegal tow trucks as thieves often attempt to lift vehicles from the street. If you see a tow away crew acting suspiciously then report it immediately to the police.
Fit good in-car security locks and bear in mind that built-in steering locks aren’t thief proof. Fitting a Sold Secure steering wheel, gear lever or clutch pedal security device can give added protection. Some of these old methods your mum and dad used are still effective as a theft deterrent.
Always manually double check your electronic locking has engaged before walking away as thieves carrying electronic devices can use them to either jam or replicate the electronic signal sent by you from your key fob to lock your vehicle.
When buying a vehicle, always check the DVLA V5 registration certificate form and make sure the Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) on the vehicle is the same as on the document. Check the VIN on the car has not been tampered with.
Many modern vehicles are fitted with engine management diagnostic ports, which can be manipulated by a thief to unlock and start your vehicle. If your vehicle has this type of port, consider fitting a lockable cover.
