However, as a shipping source points out, it would be impractical to check every container.
“If you did, you can bet that JLR and the other car makers would be among the first to complain,” the source notes.
Instead, checks must be “intelligence-led” – i.e., based on tip-offs and police investigatory work – unless a new technology solution can be found that allows containers to be checked effectively and swiftly without needing to be opened.
A spokesman for the British Association of Ports said: “Border security and combating illicit trade falls to government agencies who take a risk-based and intelligence-led approach to checks.
“This balances interests of legitimate trade and helps keep costs down for traders.
“The ports industry… is always open to constructive discussions about how we can continue to bear down on smuggling and organised crime, but this must be done in a proportionate manner.”
One potential way to direct more resources to this issue could be to adopt a model used by some US states and Australia, where a small percentage of every car insurance policy goes towards funding anti-vehicle theft police operations, says McKinlay.
That might prove controversial if it pushes up policy costs. But it may prove cheaper in the long run if insurers don’t need to cover as many claims, McKinlay argues.
The cost of vehicle theft and theft from a vehicle hit record levels in 2023, with insurers paying out £669m for claims, according to the Association of British Insurers.
The lobby group says it takes vehicle theft seriously and is “exploring partnerships with the police to help with the recovery of stolen vehicles from ports”, as well as with car manufacturers on prevention.
Ultimately, observers say more resources must be directed towards the problem to have an impact. In Canada, border authorities have done precisely this, setting up a new taskforce with money from insurers that recently targeted the Port of Montreal in a raid earlier this month.
Through searches of 390 shipping containers, they discovered 598 stolen cars worth a total of about £20m.
In the UK, a conference hosted by Toyota in Derby this July will bring together the UK Government, police, car makers and other industry figures to try to address the problem here as well.
To stop the flow of luxury cars to Russia, says Briggs, “we need more training, more police and more technology”.
“This is just business for the gangs. And so long as there is a market and they can get these cars for nothing, why wouldn’t they do it?”
The Home Office said it was cracking down on the use of electronic devices used to steal vehicles by making it an offence to possess them, through new laws in the Criminal Justice Bill that is working its way through Parliament.
A spokesman said forces were also being given more funding to hire frontline police officers, adding: “We have made great progress in tackling vehicle crime, which is down 39pc since 2010.”
Robert Johnson is a UK-based business writer specializing in finance and entrepreneurship. With an eye for market trends and a keen interest in the corporate world, he offers readers valuable insights into business developments.
