Illegal chop shops rise as thieves capitalise on rising cost of car parts
During the first six months of this year, joint operations between stolen vehicle recovery specialist Tracker and UK police forces have uncovered 37 illegal ‘chop shops’ nationwide that were being used to strip and dismantle stolen cars.
This figure is more than two-thirds of the way to reaching 2023’s total of 55, with vehicles now worth more to criminals dismantled than whole.
In 2020 Tracker helped police shut down just two chop shops but that figure has jumped significantly in recent years and continues to rise.
The steady increases come as the price of new replacement parts for cars continues to grow dramatically.
“On-going geopolitical unrest is still affecting the supply of parts, which has been unpredictable for a while now,” said Clive Wain, head of Police Liaison at Tracker.
“Add to this, continuing financial struggles for many which are fuelling illegal activity, and resulting in vehicles of all ages and values becoming targets for thieves.
“These criminals are stealing vehicles to order to strip them for parts which they can then sell-on for eye-watering sums on the black market.
“It’s not only the domestic market where parts achieve big ticket prices. Thieves will often ship stolen parts overseas too, to places such as Africa and the Middle East where they can be sold even more lucratively.”
As well as recovering large numbers of Tracker installed stolen vehicles, the discovery and closure of the chop shops also uncovered hundreds of other stolen vehicles, and put the brakes on numerous illegal parts operations.
Mr Wain added: “Determined career criminals are a hard nut to crack and whilst we work hand-in-hand with police daily to find and shut down illegal chop shops, the lucrative nature of the ‘business’ means they spring up again.
“And thieves are getting wise. Chop shops have typically been tucked away in industrial parks or in plain sight as legitimate bodyshops, but we have seen an increasing number of unusual sites being used to hide stolen vehicles and parts, such as agricultural greenhouses.”