Gardaí warn of ‘chop shops’ as theft of cheaper cars rises
Officers estimate some 13,000 vehicles are stolen every year and that 2,000 are never recovered.
Some are sold on, often bearing false number plates and documentation, to innocent purchasers.
Others are destined for so-called chop shops, which that sell on the parts to rogue repair shops and mechanics.
Gardaí working in the area report a major increase in the theft of cheaper cars, which are then sold on through advertisements in car magazines.
“We are seeing a huge trend in the small cheap car being stolen and false plates put on it,” said Detective Sergeant Finbarr Garland of the Stolen Motor Vehicle Investigation Unit.
“The car is then advertised in a variety of car magazines ... the innocent buyer has a look at it, thinks it’s a bargain, buys it for cash and drives off.
“We are literally inundated with these complaints at the moment.”
He told the Garda eview, the journal of the Garda Representative Association, that people needed to be warned about this.
“The majority of people who buy stolen cars pay between E3,000 and E4,000 but the cost can reach as high as E20,000.
“Incredibly, people are more than willing to hand over that amount of cash and receive false or even no relevant documentation.”
Det Sgt Garland said the seller typically arranges to meet the buyer in a pub car park or other public place.
He said the more sophisticated thief will have changed the ID of the car by grinding down the chassis number or cutting it out completely.
He said top-quality cars, such as BMW, Mercedes, Jaguar, Aston Martin and Audi, were sought-after.
After the cars are stolen they are passed on to another criminal, who exports them out of the country to other right-hand-drive jurisdictions.
Typical scams include:
An Irish citizen buys a car in Britain and brings it back but when he takes it for its first service it registers as a stolen car and the gardaí are contacted, leaving the buyer in a difficult position.
A criminal changes the identity of a car with that of a written-off model, resells it to the market with the hallmarks of the written-off model, while the crashed car is scrapped.
A criminal buys a high-quality car, reports it stolen for insurance purposes, while the ID of the car is changed and sold on again.
Det Sgt Garland said criminals specialise in the production of forged vehicle and identity documentation.
They include skilled mechanics who undertake the alteration of the vehicle identity, including the chassis number, production number and number plates.
Gangs hire couriers who drive the vehicles from one country to another.
Finally, a further person sells the car to a sometimes innocent purchaser at the end of the chain.
