Stolen U.S. cars are being used to fund terrorism, authorities warn

You don’t hear much about the war on terror these days, but the war is still going on. However, the war has taken an unexpected turn as stolen cars are reportedly funding terrorist organizations.

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Atlanta First News cited U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials as saying that “millions of dollars worth of stolen cars” are being shipped out of the Port of Savannah to fund terrorists. Some of these models were reportedly stolen from Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, one of the busiest airports in the world.

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Theft gangs are targeting high-end cars such as Bentleys, Ferraris and Rolls-Royces. When the station worked with investigators, they found a container containing a Bentley Continental GTC and a Lamborghini Urus. The latter was eventually tracked down to a dealership in Miami, which reported it stolen.

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The stolen cars are reportedly shipped to a variety of countries, with Libya, Jordan, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates being the most popular. The sales bring in millions of dollars, which a CBP official told the station often flows overseas and sometimes funds terrorism.

The U.S. Customs and Border Protection has a tough job. The Georgia Ports Authority website says the Port of Savannah is the third busiest container gateway in the U.S., handling more than 4.2 million TEU containers per year. Handling that many containers is like looking for a needle in a haystack.

However, last year 72 stolen cars worth $7 million ($5.3 million/€6.30) were reportedly recovered at the Port of Savannah.

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