One afternoon, Sonia Harris, who operates the Harris PR agency based in Dublin, made a trip to a city centre gym. The activity soon took an unsettling shift. Her newly purchased car was snatched from outside the location and, despite it reappearing several months later in a distant part of the country, bearing fresh number plates and being utilised for business purposes, the ordeal persisted.
Harris identified the crime as purely a chance event. Harris had put her car to park in the city centre and proceeded to the gym. After roughly 20 minutes of her workout, one of the gym trainers relayed to her that her purse had been discovered on a nearby street.
Initially, Harris was puzzled. Nonetheless, the gym staff showed greater familiarity with such a situation as they opted to inspect her locker and found it raided. Harris’s keys and her purse had been nicked. Although her set of keys were recovered in no time, her car key was nowhere to be found.
“The reality of it all hit me when I rushed to Townsend Street and my car was missing,” Harris explained. “It wasn’t about the car key’s range; he must have observed where I parked my vehicle and seen me enter the gym and use the locker.”
In Harris’s words, she “freaked out”. The Dacia Duster was a latest acquisition and worth a few thousand contained personal belongings including around eight sets of footwear, a make-up kit, and children’s car seats. The Pearse Street station gardaí were “fantastic and genuinely sympathetic,” when she went to report her case.
Sometime later, after the insurance company had settled the claim, Harris’s car was found near the Border. Security footage from the gym’s vicinity led to a suspect who was subsequently charged. However, on the day of the trial, the prosecution stumbled given inconsistencies with the timestamps on some of the security footage and the defendant walked away freely, in spite of his extensive criminal background involving disordered but not violent crimes
The suspect lived relatively close to Harris, which made her edgy for numerous months to follow, in light of the likelihood of crossing paths with him after he and his family had had a chance to clearly remember her during the ongoing three days of the court trial.
Concluding her story, Harris reflects on the whole exhausting experience which spanned about a year-and-a half and says, “it was merely one of those dreadful episodes”, adding that she fortunately never encountered the suspect again.
Harris forms part of the increasing number of individuals affected by car theft, a crime that witnessed a significant peak in the past decade. The State saw a total of 4,976 reported auto thefts last year, marking an uptick of 21% from 2022 and an even more stark contrast of 40% compared to 2019.
Investigations by Garda, conducted in several parts of the country, highlight two primary trends. A significant number of thefts are committed by what the Garda characterise as “disorganised criminals”. Meanwhile, there also exist mafia-like entities whose operations are profit-driven, possessing extensive international connections, notably within the Russian-speaking populace both within and beyond Ireland.
Disorganised car theft usually involves mostly young individuals stealing cars for joyriding or other criminal activities such as ram-raiding shops. Financial gain is not their primary motivation. This group conducts what are known as ‘high-volume’ thefts attributable to their high frequency. They mainly target Japanese imports known for their inferior security features, thereby making them easy targets. The incidence of these thefts has seen a pronounced uptick.
Not all cars stolen by these disorganised criminals are damaged. Some are recovered undamaged and handed back to their owners, but many are found wrecked beyond repair.
Recently, a new trend has emerged involving technologically advanced gangs that invest in equipment allowing them to manipulate a car fob within a target’s residence. These sophisticated criminals utilise portable amplifier devices, available online for roughly €7,000-€9,000, enabling them to activate and amplify the fob’s signal, unlock the vehicle and drive away, all from outside the house.
An increasing number of vehicles across Dublin, Meath, and Louth in Ireland is being stolen this way. Alarmingly few, if any, are being recovered. Rather, they are transported to industrial units, or “chop shops”, dismantled for parts which are then shipped out for resale in Eastern Europe.
The film ‘Gone in 60 Seconds’ could seem slow-paced in comparison to the real-life car thefts that happen within just 10 seconds, according to a reliable source. Apparently, these super-fast thefts heavily rely on speedy operations, like opening, starting, and driving off immediately. However, any obstacles, such as a simple steering lock, can be a deterrent, forcing them to try their luck elsewhere. Anything to slow down the process can cause the thieves to abandon their mission.
The amplification of the signal, which is essential to initiate the theft process, only works once and is susceptible to the fob’s proximity. Subsequently starting the car again isn’t possible, so the vehicle is driven directly to a specified location, such as a roadside or supermarket car park, where the thieves monitor it to ensure it hasn’t been located via any onboard tracking device. After an estimated safe duration of around 48 hours, if it remains undetected, arrangements to pick it up are made. Interestingly, the vehicles aren’t immediately driven to chop shops.
Car recovery service operators have been intercepted during the collection of such stolen cars frequently, with these operators maintaining that unknown callers, claiming vehicle breakdowns, requested the pickups. Investigations always highlight the proximity of these collection points to potential chop shops. Tracing back the numbers used for these pickup requests usually leads to anonymous pay-as-you-go phones, rendering identification of the callers impossible.
Chop shops have been identified in various areas like Longford and Westmeath, where industrial spaces are pocket-friendly and have convenient motorway access. Reportedly, members of Lithuanian gangs run these operations, with other Russian-speaking individuals, including Georgians, involved as well. It is suggested that they are globally well-connected. Approximately one-fifth, or around 1000 vehicles stolen annually, are believed to end up in these chop shops, their parts swiftly shipped offshore.
According to a member of the Garda, cars are mysteriously disappearing without a trace. Even enquiries to other European police forces about possible recovered vehicles have proven fruitless.
However, in Lithuania, local police have found substantial caches of car parts during their searches. These parts – including airbags, engines and gear boxes – were traced back to their manufacturers. Once cross-referenced, it was confirmed that these parts originated from cars first reported as stolen in Ireland.
Contrary to popular misconception, the primary targets of these thefts aren’t the upscale BMW or Mercedes models, but rather vehicles from the Volkswagen-Audi group, such as Skodas. These usual family cars have components that are quite easily interchangeable.
The language barrier presents an obstacle for the police, making the network challenging to infiltrate, as the Russian-speaking suspects normally engage exclusively with their own linguistic communities. The lack of involvement from general Irish criminals offers further protection for the thieves.
In terms of evidence, stolen cars often leave very little for the Garda to work with, as they are typically disassembled and exported as parts. According to an insider, there’s hardly any forensics or CCTV footage available.
Although Garda headquarters declined to comment on the issue of organised car thefts, sources suggest they have identified potential suspects and investigations are presently underway.
Despite the growth in sophisticated, profit-driven car theft, further significant expansion is possible, leaving the Garda concerned. A source warns about lower level thieves escalating to serious crimes like organised burglaries or armed robberies if they realise the lucrative nature of car theft. The transition could cause substantial difficulties due to their sheer number.