For some years, thousands of stolen cars have been discovered in almost all of the 54 countries that make up the continent of Africa, writes Ken German.
Indeed, this giant of a continent imported 1,326,000 used cars into it last year and it now holds 40 per cent of all the world’s second-hand cars. It is estimated that at least 5pc of these were stolen!
Almost daily a host of social media sites offer videos and pictures of these stolen cars being unloaded from shipping containers each having made the journey along well-trodden illicit trade routes, somewhere between Morocco and Mozambique or from Senegal to Somalia, many still showing their original European, Canadian, American, Japanese, Chinese and Middle East registration plates.
The sheer quantity of these illicit vehicles is now large enough for foreign governments, prompted by their incumbent insurance industries and of course political, legal and social commentators to express their concern at the disruption being caused; not to mention the huge financial losses being made in their home lands. For example, 80 percent of stolen vehicles in Canada are said to have been exported in the last two years to African countries like Ghana, which is one of the most prolific receiver of these cars. In fact, the Canadian insurance companies are losing $1 billion a year to car theft, which has risen 62pc in one year.
Another ten per cent of the near one million cars reported stolen in America last year are also believed to have been imported into various African coastal ports. So lucrative has this crime become that many of the international gangs involved have prioritised vehicle crime over the sale of narcotics, the trafficking of people, money laundering and the smuggling of firearms. When one exporter can make $50,000 dollars on each shipping container (two stolen cars) it’s easy to understand why.
Africa is the big target and Ghana is just one of several other West African destinations used by these international gangs but there are at least another four. The agents acting for the international crime gangs who receive these imported stolen cars rely almost totally on the corruption that exists, to bypass officialdom. Their task is to ensure the port is ‘viable’ and not compromised with police and customs security initiatives, deal financially with the known port authorities and deliver the cars to the middlemen. These are important in the chain and will either pedal the cars locally or facilitate their access along volatile roads and across borders, often knowing that their own ‘stolen’ cars may well be seized from them on their journey.
In this regard, the illicit vehicle trade in Western, Central and Eastern Africa appears to be in a constant state of flux, mainly due to the conflicts that always seem to exist between the authorities and various militia groups, each fighting to take control of the hijacking and looting that occurs, which is often for self-gain.
Africa is a huge continent covering an area of 30,37 million km2, bigger than all of Europe, China and the United States of America together so it should be difficult to generalise on the stolen vehicle trade, but it isn’t. The vehicle in all of its forms remains one of Africa’s most ubiquitous trading items and is therefore always in demand, everywhere, by all of its 1.2 billion people.
That need is obvious when vehicle ownership on average is just 44 vehicles per 1000 inhabitants. In perspective the global average vehicle ownership is 180 per 1000 per capita and in the United States of America it is 800 per 1000.
My research into why nearly all of Africa has become this labyrinth of illicit vehicle movements, primarily reveals the ease in which a vehicle can be stolen in the UK, Europe, the USA or Canada and exported to any of its 418 ports along its 18,000-mile coastline with hardly any effort, little risk and a relatively small amount of money. The cost for example for a 20-foot shipping container (suitable for one car) loaded in the UK to Ghana would be £1200 or £1800 for a 40-foot container suitable for three cars if you hang one from the container’s roof.
A similar journey from the Miami in the USA would be $1000 or $2000 and from Toronto in Canada $700 or $1400 depending on what shipping and forwarding agent you use. Larger vans and lorries that can’t fit into containers use the less costly, less popular (with thieves) and more volatile RORO ships.
As for getting caught; over 90 percent of the world’s trade moves by sea, and seventy percent of it is containerised cargo. Less than 2pc of the 420 million containers that travel the oceans of the world annually are ever inspected (according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, UNODC).
There is of course a legitimate car trade in Africa that records used vehicle imports into South Africa to the value of $4 billion dollars annually. Following on is Morocco ($2.2 billion), Egypt ($1.7 billion), Algeria ($1.7 billion), Ghana ($ 998 million), Tunisia ($726 million), Nigeria ($669 million) and Kenya ($ 502 million). West Africa in fact imports 900,000 used cars into the region every year which is 70pc of the total received in the whole of the continent.
It would appear that in relation to stolen cars, particularly if they are cloned, the authorities ‘simply cannot see the wood for the trees’. Sadly, whilst little training is given to the police and authorities on vehicle crime, reports suggest many do not have the appetite to search for or deal with such cars.
Indeed, some commentators believe it’s already an established part of Africa’s both domestic and business infrastructure stretching from the very top to those making ends meet with a few scrap vehicle spares. Others believe it is even a fortuitous redistribution of wealth.
While a report by the Global Initiative against Transnational Crime Organised Crime (CI-TOC) suggests the geographical hub of countries in the west of Africa responsible for dealing with the illicit import and trafficking of stolen cars is Benin, Burkina Faso, Cabo Verde, Cameroon, The Central African Republic Chad, Cote D’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Togo, under scrutiny the actual list is much larger and includes others are equally if not more involved in the north, east and south of the continent.
The importation of stolen cars into the majority of African countries is volatile at best and the international gangs that operate this lucrative business can expect scheduled import facilities to be changed almost weekly.
Initiatives by Interpol or the local police or militia groups of which there are many can with immediate effect make ports of entry and borders impassable. Factored in must be the political changes at borders where in a matter of days a couple of no-go areas can suddenly open up and another two can be blocked due to warring factions and military coups.
The international crime gangs are however prepared and if necessary, can re-route containerised goods in mid ocean declaring a new destination in another country. One example of their ingenuity is that their contraband, usually destined for Africa is now being rerouted via Dubai in the UAE. Despite the journey being longer, its attraction is the port is a trade free zone that offers attractive tax concessions and customs duty benefits.
More important however is that it also negates suspicion when the container does arrive in Africa it shows that it has come from Dubai and not from for instance from the USA, Canada, the EU and indeed any other country where the police or customs might be focusing their interest. Today Dubai has become a major transit port for stolen cars also coming from Japan, South Africa and the UK.
Lately the major international gangs in the USA and Canada have favoured cloning their stolen cars by altering their Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) prior to them leaving the exit port on their 21-day journey to Dubai or Africa.
Almost always these cars are accompanied by fake documentation such as proof of ownership, certificates of title and purchase, vehicle registration papers, insurance, carnets and clearance form’s the quality of which is excellent. Whether this deception is accepted or not, a few ‘extra’ taxes from the agent usually gets the clearance papers and aids a speedy exit from the port area.
Quite often agents will also need to consider payments to a broker, a mechanic who will alter VIN numbers, a fake document provider and a public facing seller before any car reaches a customer.
Ghana and its port of Tema, recently identified as importing so many stolen cars from the USA (10pc) and Canada (80pc) in the last year, may have briefly had its day as a levy of 20pc tax on all imported cars less than five years of age and 35pc on those over five years of age.
This and several anti-crime initiatives has forced bootleg import agents to move business to other ports such as neighbouring Togo, which has its own ‘active’ port at Lome, or Benin’s port at Cotonou and Liberia’s Port Monrovia, all of which have indicated an increase in black market vehicle traffic from Europe Canada and the USA.
The port of Abidjan in neighbouring Cote D’Ivoire still receives imported vehicles being trafficked to landlocked Burkina Faso and beyond. Just last year the US law authorities prevented containers carrying $1.3 million worth of high-end cars landing at these ports.
Guinea’s main port of Conakry is targeted by locals and militia gangs who are hijacking both private and imported stolen vehicles, especially those pre-ordered and attempting the journey to the Ber used car market in Northern Mali. On route they run the constant risk of border clashes with armed groups actively confiscating the cars for their own use.
Sierra Leone is suffering much the same problem and last month gunmen attacked a military barracks and armoury, as well as a prison at the port of Freetown. The consequence of closing the port allowed the authorities in Baltimore, USA to track and retrieve 149 stolen cars worth $7.4 million and also the police in Philadelphia and Delaware to prevent another 100 from landing at the port.
While many illegal activities are committed in Guinea and Guinea Bissau, the import and movement of stolen vehicles from Gambia is inexorably linked with that of neighbouring Senegal along its north, east and south borders. Gambia is known for its money laundering facilities and is frequented by various crime gangs. Stolen vehicle imports into the port of Banjul parallels that of neighbouring Senegal and unusually those from Europe are welcomed. German nationals for instance get their passports stamped for free whilst Americans pay up to 7000 Galasi (£82 or $104) for theirs.
Senegal is a known hub for cars stolen in North America and Europe and in particular France where containers filled with cars arrive weekly at it capital Dakar, its main port. Lately many insurance frauds involving French car owners have been uncovered where vehicles are reported stolen in France and insurance claims are made subsequent to their illicit sale to agents. Often when the ‘recently stolen’ vehicles are already on the high sea and en-route to Dakar. Senegal via Mauretania is the top destination for cars travelling from Europe via Morocco overland.
Checks by Senegalese police did quell the flow of suspect cars a few years ago but lately traffic seems to have increased again.
The demand for motorcycles has multiplied in Gambia and Senegal. These are needed to fill standing orders from armed groups in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger who find them essential for their various operations. One thousand are required every week by the gangs and many are actually purchased new when the supply of stolen machines dries up.
The port of Nouakchott in Mauritania is not well used for the importation of cars, but the country is alive with stolen French, Spanish and old German cars that have made the journey from Morocco. Most will also attempt the journey to the niche car market in Ber in Northern Mali but not before running the gauntlet through the Mauritania/Mali border town of Lere, where intense cross-border activity exists, bandits thrive and robberies are frequent.
Ber is well known for the sale and exchange of stolen vehicles of all types, including various bespoke false registration plates and fake ownership papers. It’s popular because it’s close to the border with Algeria, Niger Burkina Faso and Mauritania.
People from Mali’s capital Timbuktu go to Ber to buy their luxury cars. These are mostly brought in from Mauritania and either sold in Niger or taken to the border with Nigeria at Birnin Konni and sold. Others will be taken to Burkina Faso via the Tamou crossing and then to Benin via Tamou and Nigeria to be sold.
While many of the African west coast countries are competing with each other for a part in this huge trade in importing stolen vehicles, they also favour business with Nigeria which is a prime hub for the trafficking of cars in much of west and central Africa. Most middlemen and main agents in this illicit enterprise come from Nigeria, Senegal and Gambia operating from at least a dozen of its west coast ports.
The Nigerians’ own federal government recently stated that 45 per cent of smuggled vehicles that find their way into Nigeria are stolen. Many of these cars have travelled from Togo and Benin and will end up in Chad, Cameroon and Niger having had their identities changed.
It is still possible however to take a car out of a container in Cotonou in Benin or Lome in Togo, and drive to Niger or Nigeria through 200 minor tracks through the bush without encountering any formal border check.
Others that have arrived at Lagos in shipping containers usually partly disassembled will be repaired and sold to agents and possibly devolve into the local economy and be sold. Others will travel to the border with Western Niger where they are sold or exchanged with others from Burkina Faso and Mali.
Cameroon and its port of Douala welcomes stolen vehicles from the USA, Europe and Japan, Kuwait and Lebanon and Cyprus also from Equatorial Guinea and Gabon. It is extremely volatile with gangs of armed rebels looting and kidnapping vehicles and property, particularly near its eastern border with the Central African Republic (CAR).
Equatorial Guinea is said to be one of the worst countries for corruption and vehicle importers from Europe, China and India have all been subjected to onerous bureaucratic procedures often ending in fines or hidden taxes. Very few convictions for smuggling or trafficking in stolen cars is ever recorded and the few police in rural areas that do exist resort to confiscation of goods and again fines for known couriers.
Gabon, once busy importing vehicles of all types at its port of Libreville is under a military curfew. Import agents do not appear to be using this as a conduit to inner Africa at present. Agents either take their hoard of illicit cars to the Chad border to trade, clearly aware that the militant group Boko Harem are extremely active in this area or less risky they drive into Nigeria to the border with the Central African Republic (CAR) where all 4×4 cars and pick-ups are constantly in demand.
Here some of the authorities have been trained to examine VIN numbers at border crossings looking for stolen vehicles but according to media reports there still appears to be a lack of interest in them doing so. Indeed, in some areas there is no real presence of authority at all leaving violent extremists, and insurgents free to hijack vehicles, stolen or otherwise with impunity, usually for their own use.
Of concern to the traffickers operating in the CAR, Burkina Faso, Niger and Mali area is the welcoming of the Russian Wagner militant group to help with control and security over their own armed rebel groups. The trafficking of stolen cars appears to the onlooker to be now controlled by them or their own agents forcing traffickers to seek other options for the disposal of their vehicles.
Countries from the Sahel region of Africa, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, The Gambia, Guinea Mauritania, Mali, Niger, Nigeria and Senega are all are inextricably linked in the trafficking of stolen cars not just from the west coast ports but from Algeria and Libya in the north, a hazardous journey as the borders are volatile, with the military and rebels causing the closing of borders from quite often. Lately government funded initiatives, albeit brief, have also prevented couriers from attempting any crossings between these countries.
Agents from Senegal and Guinea, countries both prevalent in the import of stolen vehicles use however the 18 non-guarded entry points into Mauretania to cross the Sahel region. Morocco through the Algeciras-Tangiers crossing and to a lesser degree Ceuta, is an established trafficking route for stolen cars mainly from Europe through Mauretania, the majority of which have false registration numbers and false documentation.
The long-established border area dispute between Morocco and Algeria however is heavily monitored, forcing agents to find alternative routes such as the well-worn camel tracks through to the western Sahara region, often the one of choice. Algeria has the port of Algiers which deals with car imports from the USA, Canada, Europe Russia and South Korea. Another such port is Tunis in neighbouring Tunisia.
Algeria, Tunisia and Libya are known collectively by stolen vehicle agents as either ‘origin’ or ‘transit’ countries and when the borders with Mali and Niger are closed, agents using Libya to enter into Chad will find this border closed, making the country landlocked. Libya uses mainly the port of Khoms to import cars from Canada and Europe and also exports to Mersin in Turkey. If the Mali -Niger border was to open then vehicles are usually taken to Algeria via the Ghat crossing and into Mali via Khallil or Niger via Agadaz.
Should Khoms be compromised then often stolen cars are moved to Alexandria in Egypt for re-shipping. This is because the border with Libya at El Saloum is heavily monitored and active with military operations and the crossing at Wadi Halfa into Sudan is hostile. A thousand cars imported into Sudan from Libya have disappeared and to date only 100 have been recovered.
Over a million stolen vehicles, stolen from Europe via Malta since the demise of General Ghaddafi, are still believed to be circulating in Egypt. Egypt and Chad both have a thriving stolen vehicle market supplying mainly Sudan which is said to be one of the worst African countries of all for stolen cars. This border is now closed however due to hostilities.
Khartoum the capital of Sudan reported that 153,500 cars were stolen last year and that’s just in one city. Many more are believed to be stolen but it’s reported that due to the inaction of the police and the lack of police stations thousands of victims simply have not bothered to report their thefts. Few cars have been officially recovered although most are believed to be cloned. Darfur and Kordofan are also reported to be filled with stolen cars looted from its various war zones.
Egypt and Chad have also closed their borders with Sudan, which has halted its stolen traffic to the west. Sudan’s borders with the Central African Republic are also closed leaving the volatile military controlled Chad border to the north a risk for agents.
Onlookers have however seen vehicles skip the huge queues of refugees and vehicles, being dealt with and crossing into Sudan within minutes. Crossing into South Sudan is an option for traffickers albeit the popular route through to Ethiopia via the Metema crossing is closed.
The huge and constant requirement for vehicles by the Central African Republic (CAR) is now through South Sudan via Uganda and Mombasa in Kenya. The border areas in CAR remain unsettled and agents and couriers bring vehicles into the west of the country from either the Cabinda Province in Angola or from the west coast ports of Banana or upstream Matadi in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
Other main routes into DRC are from South Sudan in the east or from Kenya via north west Uganda and the Albert Nile where there are said to be at least 600 illegal trafficking routes across the region.
Last year in Kinshasa, DRC’s capital, 27 people were sentenced to death (commuted to life imprisonment) for stealing cars and kidnapping the owners for ransom. The cars were then used as taxis. Many taxis being used in the DRC are stolen cars, and other than city areas, few vehicles bother to display registration plates.
An abundance of Mafia-style groups exists in CAR and the DRC. Mainly from South Africa and Zimbabwe. These together with the Wagner group, brought into the area by the authorities to re-take control, make these countries extremely volatile for agents to do business.
Eritrea is in open warfare with Ethiopia and while thousands of cars exist in this small country, many stolen several times over, any trading for profit appears to be now on hold. Eritrea, which reports four times more murders per annum than the USA has its borders with Ethiopia and Djibouti closed and its one with Sudan heavily monitored by immigration controls.
Djibouti is at the horn of Africa and while it’s known for smuggling wild life, arms, gems and gold, the policing of it has prevented large scale stolen vehicle imports and exports to take place. Its weakness however is at the ports of Dewale and Dire Dawa where stolen vehicles are still being imported. Its access into Eritrea and Sudan and through to central Africa is now a popular trafficking route.
Ethiopians have to pay twice as much for their cars as their neighbours in Kenya which encourages its large trade in stolen cars, mainly due to its seven land borders with Somalia, Somaliland, Djibouti, Kenya, Eritrea, Sudan, and South Sudan although four are closed. It has become a hub for much in demand forged documentation and the cloning of vehicles due in part to import restrictions on cars over eight years of age.
Stolen vehicle imports discovered in Jigga-jigga in Somalia, Dire Dawa in Djibouti, Metema in Sudan and Moyale in Kenya have all been traced back to having come from Mombasa port via Muscat in Oman and Le Havre in France.
The DRC receives many of its stolen vehicles from the Nile region of northwest Uganda having traveled from Kenya. Here thousands of spotters earn 30,000 shillings (£6) to locate decent vehicles for the gangs to steal. The police here are reported to be dysfunctional and ineffective and some operate a shoot to kill car thieves’ policy, so bad is the problem. Interpol has had some success in quelling the movement of stolen vehicles in a few of these countries, setting up police stolen vehicle databases for the authorities to use, particularly at border controls.
Suffice to say some countries have achieved a modicum of success, considering the ever-present corruption and lack of appetite that exists to investigate the gangs responsible for trafficking stolen cars. One Interpol spokesman agreed that the initiatives made him feel rather like an early missionary preaching the gospel.
Somalia with its huge coastline on the Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Aden is best known for its piracy and trafficking in human and wild life and arms. Whilst stolen cars are not high on their list of imports, stolen cars landed in Mogadishu have been discovered in Ethiopia having come from Berbera via Jigjiga near the border with Somaliland.
Somalia’s borders with Djibouti, Ethiopia and Kenya are constantly opening and closing mainly due to the various militia groups vying for control at its borders, forcing car traffickers to look elsewhere for access to its rich pickings. That said, imported stolen cars from Belgium, Holland France, Germany and Spain into Dar Es Salaam in Tanzania have been tracked to Mombasa in Kenya and Kampala in Uganda.
Kenya is identified as one of the hotspots of stolen vehicle importation into Africa alongside Dakar in Senegal. Its reputation in importing cars from all over the world has now forced the government and Interpol to check the VIN on all vehicles landing at the port of Mombasa particularly from Canada, USA, prior to being released. A difficult job as 97pc of all cars imported into Kenya are second hand.
It was in Mombasa that import agents started diverting inbound vehicles to Dubai where agents can obtain certificates of shipping and ocean transport cards before continuing their journeys to Mombasa, thus disguising the containers original starting point.
Uganda is the biggest destination of choice for many high value cars and utility vehicles stolen in Europe. It is a major trafficking route to the DRC and Kenya where stolen Ugandan cars bearing South Sudanese registration plates have been found. Currently Interpol have arrested several gangs of car thieves in Kampala in 2023 with cars having been imported from Southampton via Dubai and Mombasa.
Like Kenya, Tanzania also imports from Europe, Australia, Malasia Japan and the UK. The local newspaper once described the roads in and around its capital as being full of stolen cars. Initiatives by the police has seen theft reduced in recent months but there remains a huge demand for stolen spare parts which are sold in markets at local Gerazani, or Kariobangi near Nairobi in Kenya and Katwe in Uganda.
Malawi and Zambia has seen a large influx of stolen vehicles being sold and exchanged at the Limpopo river crossing in Zimbabwe. The 1,600-kilometre-long river runs through Zimbabwe, Botswana, Mozambique and South Africa.
The authorities either side of the river monitor illicit traffic to a degree but at low tide high-powered stolen cars can be driven across it. Others are catered for by locals operating a donkey service, where these animals drag them across the river for a small fee.
Zambia shares its borders with eight countries: Angola, Botswana, Democratic Republic of Congo, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Tanzania and Zimbabwe.
Its geographical location is attractive to organized crime groups which traffic large quantities of stolen cars from several overt and covert crossings. Interpol operations in Lusaka last year saw many recoveries and arrests including one owned by the wife of former president Lungu.
An influx of cars from Zimbabwe at the Chirundu crossing is of current concern as a 12-day observation saw 1,576 of the cars that had travelled along the new Trans African highway across Zimbabwe from Beitbridge in South Africa, to be stolen.
Of real concern to the police in South Africa are the mainly hijacked cars that are heading north and flooding into Zimbabwe at Beitbridge and Mozambique at the Komatipoort border crossing to be sold at their used car markets. These couriers are described as brazen and operate in daylight despite extra guards from the Border Management Authority being deployed.
Maputo in Tanzania, once a hub for imports, has seen lighter traffic last year despite new vehicle arrivals being imported from Japan and Dubai. Botswana saw an 76pc increase in car theft last year. Bizarrely some small vehicles taken have been used as water pumps, generators and to drill bore holes for irrigation systems. Said to have only 2.3 million inhabitants it is one of the most sparsely populated countries.
Namibia’s port of Walvis Bay has seen imports of stolen cars arrive from Southampton in the UK destined for Zimbabwe. Good quality cars are stolen from wealthy areas like Windhoek and taken to Angola via Okavango, a known area for hijacking.
A large amount of these vehicles arriving from South Africa at the Vioolsdrift crossing had been stolen from the Northern Cape province. Nampol, Namibia’s police service have had a few police vehicles stolen in the past. One car in full police livery has just returned to them damaged. It was taken by thieves in January 2021 having done 3000km.
South Africa is the second worst country in the world, after Columbia, for car crime. Last year 22,742 hijackings occurred mainly in the Gauteng, Kwa Zulu, Natal and Western Cape areas and its 60 car thefts a day are more prevalent in Pretoria, Durban and Johannesburg. South Africa borders four countries each of which are seeing a 24-7 bombardment of one-way traffic of stolen vehicles across their borders.
Its ports of Durban and Cape Town still receive huge amounts of containerised vehicles but any examination of their contents I understand is rare. Recently South African government banned the importation of all used foreign cars. Durban which handles 60pc of the country’s containers is closed due to infrastructure damage.
A recent armed robbery at its vehicle registration office saw 50 boxes of blank registration certificates taken. This has been described as a billion Rand loss to the South African economy, financial institutions and car rental companies.
No doubt, the giant that is Africa is consuming all types of vehicles fast and that includes those that are stolen. No one can keep up its demands albeit the criminal gangs elsewhere on other continents are trying hard. Collation and cooperation has been ongoing between its various government authorities and it appears they have only reached an impasse.
The only logical way to stop the illicit trafficking of vehicles to Africa is to stop feeding it at source, namely the port of export.
