While not all stolen cars are shipped abroad, a shocking number are loaded onto ships and taken to countries in Africa, the Middle East, etc. One of the ports that’s become popular for these organized crime organizations to move product through is the Port of Baltimore with authorities recovering “dozens upon dozens” according to a report.
Car theft suspect gets trapped in golf course porta potty.
We’ve seen how these organized theft rings, which are often international and have their hand in other crimes like shoplifting, drug trafficking, and human trafficking, will stack other objects such as mattresses inside a shipping container to hide the stolen cars inside. That’s apparently a common discovery at the Port of Baltimore.
Per a WJZ report, it’s become “one of the top ports of entry” for moving stolen vehicles out of the US. There’s big money in the trade, with certain luxury cars and SUVs, plus muscle cars as popular targets since they’ll sell well to buyers in foreign countries.
For most people, learning this has become a common practice is infuriating. After all, the fact so many people are okay purchasing stolen cars, creating so much chaos in this country by driving demand, is understandably frustrating. Just keep in mind there are people who buy obviously stolen cars here in the US – we’ve seen the telltale Facebook Marketplace listings ourselves.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection run all shipping containers through an inspection process, but they aren’t catching all the stolen cars being shipped. However, they told WJZ they’ve noticed an uptick in the vehicles they are finding, indicating the volume is on the rise.
That squares with increasing car theft rates in many US cities, including Baltimore. In fact, according to The Baltimore Banner, over 1,000 cars have been stolen each month in the city since June of this year. While some people have tried to say coverage of the crime wave sweeping this and other countries is media sensationalism, the cold hard numbers indicate it really isn’t. Car theft, among other crimes are at shocking highs and seem to only be getting worse.
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