Now, after only five years of concentrating his efforts in this sometimes overlooked area, Special Agent Horsley has established himself as one of this country's premier experts on the lucrative $7 billion auto theft industry. On any given day, he gets calls from local, state, and federal law enforcement officers, insurance agencies, foreign authorities, and confidential informants. Everybody knows Ron. He has sources everywhere. You can find him at Detroit's rail yards, seaport, airport, truck docks, and at the bridge and tunnel border crossings looking for one thing - stolen vehicles.

The United States Attorney in the Eastern District of Michigan recently called a press conference to announce an indictment on one of Special Agent Horsley's joint investigations. The six-count indictment charged six Canadian and U.S. residents with, among others, conspiracy to unlawfully transport stolen motor vehicles in interstate and foreign commerce and to buy, receive, and possess, with intent to sell, stolen motor vehicles with altered Vehicle Identification Numbers (VIN).

Stolen luxury vehicles will ultimately be returned to their owners in Canada.

The scheme involved the theft of luxury vehicles from Canada and the covering or replacement of each stolen vehicle's VIN with a false one so that the vehicle would be difficult to identify as stolen. Forged Ontario Province vehicle permits were used to obtain titles and registration documents in the United States for the stolen vehicles. Customs worked with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Ontario Provincial Police, Peele Regional Police, Michigan State Police, and the Detroit Police Department on this successful investigation.

In one case, a brand new top of the line Jeep Cherokee rolled off the assembly line in Detroit and left the plant in a car carrier on a Thursday afternoon headed for a Canadian car dealership. That night, car thieves stole the vehicle from the carrier. On Friday afternoon, Customs inspectors recovered it as a stolen vehicle coming back into Detroit across the Ambassador Bridge.

Says Horsley, "The driver was arrested by the Detroit Police Department and had the nerve to come back later to try to get the impounded Jeep back."

Who steals cars these days? Professionals!
Today's car thief works with laptops, digital imaging, and high tech equipment that can circumvent most tracking devices. Car thieves will take a specialty order from a guy in Eastern Europe, steal the car, and even give tips on how to dress while driving it. Specialty orders can include selection of color, interior, rims, sunroof, etc. If they get caught, the penalties charged are much milder in comparison to other offenses like those for dealing narcotics.

According to Agent Horsley, "Car theft has become the profession of choice for those former narcotic traffickers who have made it to their late 30s or 40s and who have the financial backing. These guys are good. They are so good they can get a luxury sport utility vehicle to you faster than the factory."

Where have all the stolen cars gone? Everywhere.
In some countries the import laws are very restrictive and they don't have the dealers and the network to distribute the cars like the Mercedes and Lexus SUVs, Rolls Royces, Porches, and Bentleys.

"We know of a guy over in Windsor, Canada who sold 40 stolen cars to a dealership in Panama," says Horsley. "They have customers all over the world, primarily in Russia, Colombia, Panama, and the Middle East. In some places like Bogota, Colombia, and Peru there is a need for the type of vehicles we see stolen here. In order to be able to handle the rough terrain or just to look good and to be stylish, there is a demand for luxury sport utility vehicles. We've heard that the same vehicles stolen in Michigan have sold for three times their value on the Russian black market."

Because countries don't share motor vehicle information, it is easy to have a vehicle re-titled in another country. A car can come across the border from Canada with a forged, stolen, or cloned Canadian title and permit. That car can get re-titled in the U.S., exported overseas, and look perfect on paper.

Meanwhile, Special Agent Horsley continues with his investigations. You know where to find him: looking for stolen cars, on the border.

The National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB) has found that cities located along U.S. borders are more susceptible to auto-theft. The NICB names Detroit as one of the cities with the highest auto-theft rates in the nation because of its location at the border. It ranks third behind Phoenix and Miami. NICB statistics show that approximately 1.1 million vehicles are stolen in this country each year and more than 30 percent are never recovered. One of the unfortunate results of this so-called victimless crime is increased insurance premiums.