An international police operation targeting vehicle crime in West Africa has uncovered about 150 stolen vehicles, some in Nigeria, and the seizure of more than 75 vehicles.
Codenamed ‘Safe Wheels’, the INTERPOL operation conducted by law enforcement agencies in 12 West African countries led to 18 new investigations and the bust of two crime groups.
INTERPOL, in a statement, said most of the stolen vehicles discovered through its Stolen Motor Vehicle, SMV, database were trafficked from Canada, France, Germany and the Netherlands.
Around 270,000 vehicles were identified as stolen globally in 2024 through the database which allows police in 196 member countries to run a check against suspicious vehicles.
During the recent two-week action across West Africa, security agents in participating countries inspected a total of 12,600 vehicles. Toyota models were stolen, followed by Peugeot and Honda.
Land and sea were used to traffic the vehicles detected during the exercise by agents from Benin, Burkina Faso, Cabo Verde, Cote d’Ivoire, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea Bissau, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, and Togo.
During the inspections of freight containers in Lagos, Nigeria Customs Service, NCS, officers discovered six vehicles, “four of which showed clear signs of break-in,” according to INTERPOL
The database revealed that the vehicles – Toyota and Lexus models – were reported stolen in Canada in 2024. The NCS and Canada’s INTERPOL National Central Bureau are investigating.
David Caunter, Director of Organized and Emerging Crime at INTERPOL, said the SMV platform is the strongest tool to track stolen vehicles and identify the perpetrators of the “global trade.”
“Stolen vehicles are trafficked across the globe, traded for drugs and other illicit commodities, enriching organized crime groups and even terrorists,”Caunter noted.
