Confessions of a carjacker: Brazen thief lifts the lid on the secrets behind ‘dark arts’ of stealing luxury vehicles worth over $100,000 – and he made THOUSANDS of dollars every day
- Former car thief revealed the inner-workings of a professional car-jacking ring
- The crew would work every night, targeting luxury vehicles worth over 100,000
- They would find their target at a supermarket car park and track the vehicle
- Once it was dark, the group would break into the home to find keys and cash
A former car thief has revealed the inner-workings of a professional carjacking ring, which saw him make about $10,000 a week.
The crew would work every night, targeting luxury vehicles such as Ranges Rovers, Mercedes and new-model BMWs across Auckland, New Zealand.
They wanted anything worth over $100,000 and were prepared to go to extreme lengths to get it.
A former car thief has revealed the inner-workings of a professional car-jacking ring, which saw him making about $10,000 a week
The first part of the heist involved five guys who would would scour a supermarket car park on Auckland’s North Shore, the former car thief said.
Once a target had been identified, one person would be outside attaching a magnetic GPS tracker to the back of the vehicle while the other four followed the motorist as they shopped.
They would wait to see them type in their PIN for their eftpos card, before retreating to wait for it to get dark.
After tracking the car back to the property, the crew would wait until the motorist had gone to bed before they made their move.
‘The best houses are the ones that you don’t have to go upstairs because the stairs always creek,’ he told the New Zealand Herald.
New homes that had been built by a common building company were ideal as the crew could predict the layout, making it easy to find what they were on the hunt for – the keys.
‘We’d aim for one car, but obviously people just leave their keys on hooks at the front door. I mean, if there’s five sets of keys there, that’s how many we will take,’ he said.
The crew would work every night, targeting luxury vehicles such as Ranges Rovers, Mercedes and new-model BMWs in Auckland, New Zealand
While searching the home for keys, they were also on the lookout for a wallet or handbag so as soon as they fled the property they could head straight to an ATM to withdraw as much cash as possible.
The former carjacker said they were stealing about one luxury vehicle a night.
It was a dangerous game but the payoff was worth it, he said. As he was making about $10,000 per week.
‘We’ve had weapons pulled on us, but we retaliate.
‘No matter what you do, people are scared when you come into their space. So they just act in fear. They’re scared of what’s happening.’
The vehicle would then be taken to a panel beater where the car would be re-branded overnight.
‘You have to repaint the whole car a different colour, and you have to cut and weld the firewall [the divider between the engine and the cabin] a different colour. It’s a real thin metal.’
Vehicles, such as Mercedes, and Holdens, are difficult because of the Identification numbers that have been printed across the car body.
Once the vehicle has been re-branded it is then sold to a gang for $5,000 to $20,000.
The gang can then on-sell it for up to $150,000.
The former thief has spoken out in the hope of warning motorists over what to look out for.
Car thefts have been rife across New Zealand with 28,682 cars stolen just last year.
The Auckland region had 12,260, while the Waitematā police district had 2,884.
Daily Mail Australia has contacted the New Zealand Police for comment.