YAHOO AUTOS
By Zach Doell
Land Rover Defender
Dozens of luxury car and 4×4 owners across the UK will have started today with a noticeably brighter disposition. That’s thanks to British authorities, which have successfully recovered 44 stolen vehicles from shipping containers at seven UK ports.
The stolen cars, many of which are luxury sedans and 4x4s, have been valued at more than £1.2 million (around $1.9 million).
According to The Telegraph, the UK’s National Crime Agency, Vehicle Crime Intelligence Service, and the Border Force participated in a multi-agency sting operation, dubbed ‘Operation Toyer’, seizing shipping containers at ports located in Hull, Immingham, Grangemouth, London Gateway, Felixstowe, Tilbury and Southampton.
The vehicles recovered include a slew of BMW sedans and SUVs, multiple Land Rover Defenders, a Range Rover Sport and Evoque, Scania trucks, and even a Komatsu excavator. Parts from at least 29 stolen BMWs have also been recovered in shipping containers, worth a reported $430,000 on their own.
Authorities believe the intended destination of the purloined luxury vehicles to be the US, along with locations in Malaysia and Burma. Reportedly, 18 cars were stolen from private British owners while the remainder belong to financing companies, many of which tote outstanding payments.
Deputy Director of the Border Policing Command, Tom Dowdall, confirms that though this is a major find for the National Crime Agency, officers continue to seize stolen vehicles at UK ports on a daily basis. However we fear that the owners of the 29 chop-shop’d BMWs will never see their 3- and 5-Series again.
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