The thefts, while cleaver, were really facilitated by the lack of substantial governance in Mexico. This is a decades old problem. Nearly any type of motor vehicle, including 18 wheel semi-truck and trailers, can be sold in Mexico without a title. The Mexican government has never been able to stop the practice because of the interruption of drug gang activity.
June 2, 2017
By Hamza Shaban
In a cross-border auto heist (click here) that resembles a scrapped plot from the "Fast and the Furious" franchise, nine members of a Tijuana-based biker club have been charged with stealing 150 Jeep Wranglers using stolen computer code and key designs, the Justice Department announced earlier this week.
By Hamza Shaban
In a cross-border auto heist (click here) that resembles a scrapped plot from the "Fast and the Furious" franchise, nine members of a Tijuana-based biker club have been charged with stealing 150 Jeep Wranglers using stolen computer code and key designs, the Justice Department announced earlier this week.
Known as the Hooligans, the biker gang allegedly stole the Jeeps in the San Diego area over the past several years, selling the vehicles or stripping them for parts, across the border in Mexico, US Attorney Mark Conover said during a news conference recorded by the San Diego Union-Tribune. The value of the stolen Jeeps was US$4.5 million (NZ$6.4m).
According to the indictment, the Hooligans staked out vehicles days before the thefts to obtain their vehicle identification numbers. With these numbers in hand, the suspects were able to get details to create duplicate car keys as well as the codes needed to program the keys, linking them to the Jeep Wranglers.
The key designs and codes were stored in a proprietary database. But law enforcement officials don't know how the Hooligans were able to access it.
In the course of the investigation, authorities said they learned that nearly 20 requests for duplicate keys were made by a single Jeep dealership, in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico....
