Border officers at the Port of Dover apprehended a Ukrainian driver in possession of approximately $100,000 worth of parts from eight high-end stolen vehicles. The components, including elements from a Jaguar XE sports car and four Land Rover Discovery models, were found packed into a delivery van. Investigations revealed that some parts were manufactured as recently as 2019, with one item linked to a theft that occurred just nine days prior.
During an inspection, an officer from the National Vehicle Crime Intelligence Service (NaVCIS) noted that the van appeared uninsured and was not registered to the driver. The driver claimed the van contained spare parts he had purchased online as scrap metal and intended to take home. However, the recent manufacturing dates of some components raised suspicions, as officers would typically expect scrap parts to originate from much older vehicles.
A chassis number on a 2016 Land Rover Discovery Sport component positively identified it as stolen nine days earlier. The seized parts, estimated to be worth around $20,000, included LED headlight units valued at approximately $900 each. The discovery is part of a broader trend of car theft gangs targeting luxury vehicles in Britain, breaking them down into parts in illegal operations known as 'chop shops,' and then shipping the components overseas, often to Africa and the Middle East, where they can be sold for higher prices on the black market. An estimated 7,000 high-specification vehicles were stolen to order in the UK last year for this purpose.
Despite the significant findings, no further action was taken against the driver. The incident was documented in the Channel 4 documentary series Dover 24/7: Britain's Busiest Port.