There are some pretty nice rides in the mix.

If you think the surge of crime has just affected North America, you haven’t been paying attention to what’s happening in Australia. One of the hot spots for violent crime Down Under is Sydney as a gangland war rages in the city. Police just seized a bunch of so-called “kill cars” as part of a crackdown on organized crime and we’re seeing some pretty nice rides in the mix.

This is why you don’t run from the cops in a Ford Fusion.

About 23 vehicles in total were seized over a seven week period, a victory we’re sure police want to repeat and even exceed. A report from 7News Australia, which we’ve included for your viewing pleasure, shows some of these Kill Cars. Included is a Ford Ranger Raptor, Jeep Gladiator, and Porsche Cayenne, both destined to be torched. All Kill Cars are stolen in an effort to keep the authorities from tracing crimes back to the organizations.

The gangs use these Kill Cars to commit murders and kidnappings throughout the Sydney area, hence the name. Understandably, they want something fast and powerful to get away from the scene of the crime, hence why there are so many cool vehicles featured in the story.

Inside the vehicles are items necessary to commit a murder and not get caught, including fake tags, balaclavas, gloves, even firearms (although we’re not sure how they get those considering the strict gun control laws in Australia).

According to the 7News report, the Kill Cars are outfitted with a gas can which is lit on fire, the fuel consuming all the evidence of the commission of crime(s). We’ve seen criminals try the same move by dumping vehicles in bodies of water, off remote cliffs, etc.

A police spokesman said this latest crackdown on Kill Cars has probably stopped about a dozen murders. What they want citizens to do is report any unfamiliar vehicles which appear suddenly and sit on a street, parking garage, etc. It sounds like one person will drive the car to a specific location, leaving the items need to commit a murder inside. Then hours or days later, the person who will commit the murder or kidnapping picks up the Kill Car, does the deed, then lights the car on fire.

While perhaps not quite as uniform, this sort of thing happens with some stolen cars here in North America as well. Fighting car theft is an effective way to combat violent crime.