A fleet of British vehicles worth over £1million has been discovered in Uganda following the theft of one Lexus in West London.
The vehicle, worth £50,000 was fitted with a state-of-the-art tracking device which allowed detectives from the National Crime Agency (NCA) to track its movements via a smartphone app once it had been stolen. It ended up 6,000 miles away in Kampala, Uganda, along with 28 other high-value vehicles which had been stolen by the car-smuggling gang.
A quarter of the 40,000 cars stolen in the capital this year use new keyless technology and it’s believed all 28 of those recovered, including the Lexus, also use it. Criminals are using reprogrammed keys to start the vehicles and drive off, with the police, insurance companies and manufacturers struggling to prevent it.
Offers of the Metropolitan Police in Kensington and Chelsea, one of the wealthiest areas of the city, are now regularly stopping expensive-looking vehicles that are seen driving in the area after midnight, as this is the time when the majority of thefts are taking place.
The car was originally stolen in April, where it was tracked to Le Havre in France using a smartphone, operated by the NCA’s regional director Paul Stanfield, running software created by anti-fraud investigators APU Ltd. From there it was shipped across the Mediterranean, through the Suez Canal and on to Oman before going to Mombasa in Kenya, then by road to Kampala.
Using APU’s app, the investigators were able to infiltrate the gang and understand its operation, as well as identify corrupt officials in Kenya and Uganda.
Mr Stanfield said: “This investigation is an excellent example of the close co-operation between the UK National Crime Agency, National Vehicle Crime Intelligence Service (NVCIS), Interpol and APU to tackle the increasing threat from organised vehicle crime.
Range Rovers, BMWs, Audis and other luxury cars were amongst those seized in Uganda, and are now being shipped back to the UK.
