More stolen cars are being shipped overseas from Tri-State Area ports. An expert says it's a "world epidemic."
NEWARK, N.J. — There is an alarming rise in the number of stolen cars found at Tri-State Area ports, ready to be shipped overseas.
CBS News New York's Derick Waller recently toured the Port of Newark, where the number of cars seized keeps climbing.
Cars stolen in Tri-State Area are being shipped overseas to be sold
Jeffrey Greene is the acting director at the Port of New York and Newark, where customs officials acting on tips are x-raying containers and seizing stolen cars.
Looking into one container, Greene pointed out two junk vehicles hiding a perfectly intact Mercedes in the back.
In another container, officials found a Chevy Silverado that had been stolen right off a dealer lot.
"So last year, the Port of New York-Newark here, we led the country in seized vehicles ... We had 368 vehicles. That's more than a car a day," Greene said.
Already through August this year, they're up to 331, on track to outpace last year's numbers.
Investigators say the markets currently paying the most are in West Africa.
Video shared on social media shows a luxury SUV rolling out of a shipping container ready to be sold in Nigeria. Other sellers posting online don't even bother to remove the American license plates.
"You can usually drive around at leisure with that plate on. No one will ever question you," said Dr. Ken German, a former police officer with a Ph.D. in international vehicle crime. "It's a world epidemic ... And it's because the organized criminals, they're probably laughing at us, actually, because they're not only making lots of money, but they don't have to, actually have to do much work."
Young people are often recruited to carry out the thefts, said Homeland Security Special Agent in Charge William Walker. He heads an auto crime task force working with local law enforcement.
"They're capitalizing on young minds who may not understand the ... repercussions of their actions," he said.
Car thieves break into N.J. home to get keys to new SUV
Walker said car owners have to do their part, too.
"If consumers are leaving their front door unlocked or their windows open ... that, too, is a recipe for having your car stolen out of your driveway," he said.
In August, a crew swiped a luxury SUV in Totowa after climbing through an unlocked kitchen window to grab the key fob.
"The key fob is integral," Walker said.
That's why Laura, a mom in Morris County, went so far as to store the keys to her BMW in something called a "Faraday cage."
"So it basically blocks an amplifying device that a lot of the thieves have where it allows them to start the car remotely," she said.
But in April, the SUV she only had for eight days was stolen anyway after crooks broke into her family's home in the middle of the night through a locked window. She believes they used a crow bar.
"So kind of doing all the things that you're supposed to be doing, right, to prevent a car theft. But they were able to find the keys and they stole our car all within about six minutes," she said.
"How did you feel in that moment? What does it feel like to have a stranger in your house?" Waller asked.
"It's really violating. You know, it really, I think at the end of the day, like, it's just a car, right? So I would have rather them gotten the car but not come into the house," Laura said.
She is now making sure her car always in the garage.
Car thefts up 99% in Newark from 2022 to 2023
Montville Police Chief Andrew Caggiano is lobbying lawmakers to amend New Jersey's 2016 bail reform law.
"These guys are getting caught one, two, three times and they're being released, and that's where it become problematic," he said.
"The counter to that argument, you know, is that if you reach into someone's window and steal the keys, that's not considered a violent crime," Waller said.
"It's a property crime, but to that person whose house you went into, that's a violation," Caggiano said.
So how bad is the problem?
In Newark, for example, 3,980 people had their cars stolen in 2023, up 99% from 1,995 in 2022 – and that's not even including carjackings. This year, thefts in Newark are down 33% so far, but that's still higher than what it was a couple of years ago.
New numbers from the National Insurance Crime Bureau, however, show through the first half of 2024, car thefts are actually down 7% in New Jersey, 18% in New York and 20% in Connecticut.