AUTONEWS

FBI: Luxury cars stolen from containers are used to finance terrorist organisations

Luxury brand models, from Ferrari to Lamborghini, including Bentley and Rolls-Royce, among others, are targeted by thieves who focus on quality over quantity, stealing vehicles that are quickly placed inside a container to be exported to the United Arab Emirates, Libya, Turkey, Jordan and Ghana. And, according to US authorities, these thefts are a source of funding for terrorist organisations.

The US is unlikely to be the only victim of this type of theft, which should include the entire Western world, but there, the authorities that control borders and seaports have stepped up inspections of container departures, which allowed them to seize 72 luxury vehicles last year. Valued at around 7 million dollars, the models in question were found already inside containers and about to be placed on board freighters for shipment.

The authorities are now more closely monitoring port movements, which include all ports in the country. And by cross-referencing information with destination markets, agents, with the help of the FBI, have gathered evidence that the proceeds from the sale of these stolen vehicles are then used to finance terrorist organizations.

The story of these robberies is told by Atlanta News First, a television channel that accompanied the police on one of the raids at the port of Savannah, Georgia, the third largest in the US with an annual movement of 4.2 million containers. The vehicles shipped were stolen from a variety of locations, from the parking lot at Atlanta airport to a Lamborghini taken from a dealership of the Italian brand in Miami, 800 km away from Savannah.

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