Police in Louisville, KY, cracked open a sophisticated multi-million-dollar car theft ring. According to one detective who spoke with local news station WLKY, police who stopped these vehicles for moving violations had no idea the cars were even stolen, so only a minor citation was issued.
Authorities aren’t disclosing all the details about how this theft ring had been hiding under the nose of police, but it is known the thieves used the old trick of VIN cloning, when a legitimate VIN is put on a stolen vehicle, obscuring the history so it can be registered without problems.
According to authorities, many of the cars come from Florida, particularly the Miami-Fort Lauderdale area, but there are others with connections to Texas or Ohio. While they’ve netted millions in high-end vehicles, including a Bentley and multiple C8 Corvettes, and several people have been arrested, detectives believe the rabbit hole goes much deeper.
Often these operations have a national if not an international network of connections, and the organizations usually do more than just steal cars, with drug and human trafficking, shoplifting and other criminal activity often in the mix.
Louisville police detectives are hopeful they’ll figure out key details like who stole the cars, how they were transported to the area, and who is cloning the VINs.
Abby Andrews