Automobile Theft Rings Inflict EUR124 Million in Damage Across Germany

In Hamburg, a troubling trend has emerged as organized crime rings increasingly target high-end vehicles for theft and disassembly. The police reported a staggering 63,000 cases of auto theft and dismantling in 2023 alone, with the majority of stolen parts allegedly being shipped to Russia.

The thefts typically follow a familiar pattern. In one incident in the Hamburg district of Nienstedten, the perpetrators disabled motion sensors before breaking into a garage to strip a luxury Mercedes GLC 300 of its components. By the time the vehicle's owner discovered the theft and alerted law enforcement, the culprits had already fled the scene.

According to law enforcement, these criminal gangs tend to strike during the early hours of the morning, generally between 1 AM and 4 AM. They operate swiftly and efficiently, employing specialized tools to remove valuable parts, which are then loaded into vans and transported to hidden locations for packaging. From there, the parts are shipped in containers to Russia, where they are often used to repair damaged vehicles.

The market for auto parts in Russia has grown, particularly due to the challenges posed by EU sanctions following the country's invasion of Ukraine. As a result, legitimate sources for vehicle parts have become scarce, allowing organized crime to fill the void.

In Hamburg alone, 2,873 vehicles were reported as broken into, stripped, or dismantled in 2023, marking an over 13% increase from the previous year. Nationwide, the total damage caused by these auto parts thefts reached approximately EUR124 million in 2023, representing a 9% rise from the prior year.

Thomas Jungfer, the head of the German Police Union in Hamburg, emphasized the need for increased resources to effectively combat these crimes. He stated that relying on chance encounters with criminals is insufficient, calling for enhanced staffing for undercover operations to apprehend those responsible for these thefts.