- Operatives with the Jalisco cartel and other Mexican criminal organizations are increasingly renting U.S. trucks and cars and then driving them across the border.
- The thefts often happen in border states, with California the top target.
asserted
California → rent → states
- Models popular among the cartels include Cadillac Escalades and BMW SUVs.
asserted
Models → include → Escalades
Rugged trucks, such as Chevy Suburbans and Ford Raptors, are sometimes converted into mutant-tanks, outfitted with ballistic-proof steel plating, firing ports and gun mounts.
asserted
trucks → convert → plating
MEXICO CITY — Mexican cartels are stealing cars and trucks from U.S. rental agencies at an alarming rate, spiriting thousands of vehicles across the border each year to keep top capos in the latest model BMWs and Cadillacs.
asserted
cartels → steal → model
Law enforcement agencies and companies charged with trying to recover stolen vehicles say that while much of the thefts occur in border states, cartel operatives have stolen vehicles from as far away as New York, Chicago and Miami.
asserted
operatives → charge → York
But California remains the top target.
asserted
California → remain → ?
Each year, about 2,000 vehicles stolen from California end up in Mexico, according to the California Highway Patrol.
uncertain
vehicles → steal → Patrol
LAPD Sgt. Juvey Mejia, a member of the Task Force for Regional Auto Theft Prevention, said the cartels love heavy-duty pickup trucks and Jeeps.
asserted
cartels → say → trucks
“Anything that can drive through tough terrain to get away from Border Patrol so they can move dope,” Mejia said.
asserted
Mejia → drive → dope
Along with Chevy Suburbans, Ford Raptors and Toyota pickups, the vehicles of choice include Cadillac Escalades and BMW SUVs, according to people whose job is to recover them.
uncertain
job → include → them
To battle rival cartels or authorities, criminal groups sometimes convert the trucks into mutant tanks, adding heavy ballistic-proof steel plating, firing ports and gun mounts.
asserted
groups → battle → plating
The thefts don’t require much stealth: vehicles are rented in the U.S. by cartel operatives and then driven across the border.
asserted
vehicles → require → border
California sees significant theft, in part, because of its restrictive privacy laws on GPS tracking of rental vehicles, according to Sharky Laguana, owner of Bandago Van Rentals based in San Francisco.
uncertain
California → see → Francisco
Unlike other states, California requires that rental agencies wait to turn on GPS tracking until the vehicle return deadline has passed and the renter has been contacted by the company.
asserted
renter → require → company
By then, most stolen vehicles are deep in Mexican territory.
asserted
vehicles → steal → territory
“California allows criminals to take advantage of the fact that we are not allowed to see where the vehicle is until it’s too late,” Laguana said.
asserted
Laguana → allow → fact
The American Car Rental Assn., a trade group, said in a statement that California laws make it harder to recover vehicles.
asserted
it → say → vehicles
“Members are reporting a sharp increase in rental vehicle theft from California into Mexico, where California law uniquely restricts rental fleet operators from accessing technology to protect and recover their assets,” the association said in a statement.
asserted
association → report → statement
“The result is millions of dollars in annual theft-related costs.”
asserted
result → relate → costs
Early this year, criminal groups stole 10 new Ram pickup trucks from Oakland, Los Angeles and Las Vegas airports, according to private investigators.
uncertain
groups → steal → investigators
The trucks ended up in Jalisco state in regions controlled by the violent Jalisco New Generation Cartel.
asserted
trucks → end → Cartel
The private investigators recovered one truck with help from the Mexican army.
asserted
investigators → recover → army
Security forces also seized a cache of Browning and Barrett .50-caliber weapons.
asserted
forces → seize → weapons
In another haul this year, thieves stole six 2026 model Jeep Wranglers from Oakland and Las Vegas.
asserted
thieves → steal → Oakland
Four have been recovered so far.
asserted
Four → recover → ?
Private investigators believe the vehicles were destined for the Sinaloa Cartel.
asserted
vehicles → believe → Cartel
The same investigators received requests last week to recover a dozen Ram trucks tracked to Sinaloa and seven more in Durango state.
asserted
investigators → receive → state
“For the cartel, it is the cheapest way for them to do business,” said Kevin Carter, owner of Collateral Consultants, a rental car recovery company in Texas.
asserted
Carter → do → Texas
“There’s no sense in them buying a car when they could rent one for a few hundred bucks, and it’s theirs forever.”
uncertain
it → ’ → bucks
One tactic involves cartels hiring people in the U.S. via social media to rent a vehicle for five days, get the damage waiver that includes covering the car if it is stolen, and then leave the keys in the vehicle still parked in the rental parking lot.
asserted
it → involve → lot
An operative arrives, gets in the car and drives it south to Mexico.
asserted
operative → arrive → Mexico
In other cases, thieves will rent the vehicle online or at a kiosk using a stolen identity, said Mejia, the LAPD officer.
asserted
Mejia → rent → identity
Since the pandemic, it’s not unusual for people to wear protective masks, so the renter will wear a mask to hide their identity from the kiosk camera.
asserted
renter → ’ → camera
“They know it won’t be traced back to them,” Mejia said.
asserted
Mejia → know → them
The scheme, known as huachicol fiscal, is the second-largest source of revenue for cartels, after drug trafficking.
asserted
scheme → know → trafficking
The process for reporting a stolen rental vehicle varies from state to state, but it is often tedious.
asserted
it → report → state
It can take three days after the vehicle has gone missing for a company to prepare a demand letter to the renter seeking return of the vehicle.
asserted
company → take → vehicle
Such notification is required before a vehicle can be reported stolen, and it can take another two days to send the letter by certified mail.
asserted
it → require → mail
Depending on the state, a company might have to wait up to nine days to report the theft to police.
uncertain
company → depend → police
Only then can it appear on the FBI-managed U.S. National Crime Incident Database, where stolen vehicles are reported.
asserted
vehicles → appear → Database
…and 41 more, not listed.
The Aporia
