The surprising 'car theft capital of the world' where vehicles end up 5,000 miles away
One country has been dubbed the ‘car theft capital of the world' with hundreds of thousands of vehicles stolen from driveways in a major crime operation.
Motorists in Canada are being targeted by criminals with a vehicle stolen once every five minutes across the country.
The Insurance Bureau of Canada has even described the situation as a "national crisis" with INTERPOL now getting involved to tackle the issue.
In 2022 alone, it is believed more than 105,000 cars were stolen from owners across Canada.
Often, models have then appeared for resale thousands of miles away in other countries as thieves try to evade detection.
The issue shows no signs of slowing with INTERPOL claiming more than 1,500 cars stolen from Canadian citizens were sold around the world between February and May 2024.
Around 200 more models tend to be identified each week with many showing up at ports across the globe.
INTERPOL says Canada now ranks among the top 10 countries affected out of more than 137 nations tracked.
INTERPOL said: "In recent years, Canada has emerged as a key source country for stolen motor vehicles, in part given its large supply of sought-after high-value models such as SUVs and crossovers.
"Many of the vehicles are shipped to the Middle East and West Africa, where they are then traded or re-sold."
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It is believed insurers have had to pay out more than £860million (C$1.5bn) in claims last year alone.
The figures were around three times higher than insurance payouts back in 2018 highlighting the scale of the problem.
According to experts, once vehicles are taken, they are usually used to carry out a range of crimes or sold for a profit.
Some stolen cars were being sold locally to unsuspecting Canadians but many were being shipped abroad.
In April, an investigation by the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) and the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) received 598 vehicles before they could be shipped overseas.
The majority of the vehicles were from Ontario and had an estimated resale value of £19.7million (C$34.5million).
However, the justice system is struggling to keep up with the pace as criminals are evading prosecution.
In 2022, there were 37,041 car thefts in Ontario in what would be a whopping 34 percent increase from 2021.
However, car theft charges were only up by 88 or a measly four percent over the same time period.
