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Over £1m worth of stolen luxury vehicles returned to UK from Uganda

Said to be a first in the battle against ‘car key burglary’, the operation for the repatriation of the vehicles was completed through a public-private partnership between the National Crime Agency (NCA), National Vehicle Crime Intelligence Service (NaVCIS), Interpol and anti-motor fraud specialist, Asset Protection Unit Ltd (APU). 

The location of the 24 cars, including expensive Range Rovers, Audi Q7s and BMW X5s, in East Africa, was discovered last May after a stolen Lexus was traced across Europe, the Middle East and Africa by APU to expose an international car theft ring.

‘Car key burglary’, where organised gangs target affluent areas stealing cars to order, is a significant issue in the estimated £1.3 billion motor fraud insurance problem according to the authorities. 

Twelve insurers, including Admiral, Allianz, Aviva and Zenith, were victims of the Ugandan car ring.

Covering nearly 20,000 miles in containers on their journey from London to Kampala and back, the vehicles eventually began their trip home from a warehouse near the Ugandan capital, through Kenya to a port in Oman by boat, and on to Mediterranean via the Suez Canal before reaching UK waters on Saturday 19 March 2016.

Neil Thomas, director of investigative services at APU Ltd, said: “This is the first time such an operation has been run involving this level of international and cross agency co-operation and it is a real example of how private industry, leading edge technology and expertise can assist law enforcement. It sets the template for future operations targeting organised criminals intent on stealing mobile assets.”

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Natalie Middleton

Natalie has worked as a fleet journalist for over 20 years, previously as assistant editor on the former Company Car magazine before joining Fleet World in 2006. Prior to this, she worked on a range of B2B titles, including Insurance Age and Insurance Day.