An intricate crime operation reminiscent of The Sopranos has been discovered in Australia, involving the theft and overseas shipment of high-end vehicles for fast financial gain.

Authorities believe that thousands of luxury cars are being stolen across Australia, only to be dismantled and exported to regions such as the United Arab Emirates, Malaysia, India, and certain African countries.

These vehicles, often referred to as ‘ghost cars,’ are illicitly taken from public areas, streets, and private properties. They are then driven to secretive chop shops, where they are prepared for international transport.

These chop shops, cleverly disguised as unnamed auto-recycling facilities, are strategically located in various Melbourne suburbs.

The international crime syndicate is suspected of loading whole luxury vehicles into shipping containers, which are then rapidly dispatched overseas.

Meanwhile, other popular models like the Toyota Prado, Landcruiser, and HiLux are disassembled to optimize container space and increase the illicit operation’s profitability.

Stolen vehicles are often cut in half, with only the more valuable front section making the trip for its engine and electronics. 

It’s been revealed thieves use easily-purchased, cheap on-board diagnostic (OBD) devices to activate stolen vehicles and whisk them away. 

A Mercedes stolen from Melbourne was spotted in Dubai

The device mirrors a car owner’s programmed key. 

It’s understood crime gangs armed with OBDs mainly target Toyotas, a popular make regarded as ‘global’ vehicles easily transferred to foreign markets. 

Auto trade sources told the Herald Sun the stolen car shipments are rarely intercepted by border control officials, whose focus is searching freight for drugs, tobacco and weapons. 

Damning statistics reveal 20 per cent of Victoria’s stolen cars are never recovered.

This equates to 6,600 of the 33,018 vehicles stolen in 2024-2025. 

In a shock twist, a Melbourne man was shocked to find his stolen car on the road in Dubai while he was holidaying in the United Arab Emirates location.

It’s understood the man’s car was stolen months before his trip and he had forgotten all about it. 

But he took a closer look when he saw the vehicle and spotted it bore the same stickers he placed on the vehicle when he was driving it around Melbourne.

Other cars including the Toyota Prado, Landcruiser and HiLux are chopped up to maximise space in shipping containers and boost criminal profits

Unfortunately, his car had a new owner so there was nothing the man could do to persuade local police to ship the vehicle back to Melbourne. 

Authorities regard Dubai as a hub for stolen vehicles with cars coming into the location from all over the world.

In February, 2017, a near-new Mercedes-Benz C-Class coupe was stolen from a Glen Iris family home in Melbourne’s eastern suburbs only to turn up intact with it’s original number plate in Dubai months later.

An Endeavour Hills man was charged with the theft but the family never saw their Mercedes again.

The racket mirrors a plot line from classic Mafia TV show The Sopranos in which crime boss Tony Soprano meets with Italian crime figures to discuss a price for shipping American cars to foreign countries.

According to sources, a local criminal practice of scrapping VINs and registering or selling stolen cars locally, known as ‘rebirthing’, is more difficult than chopping and exporting vehicles overseas. 

‘Exporting is easier than rebirthing or re-registering. There’s no export controls. You just cut them up,’ a source told the Herald Sun.

Specialist vehicle crime investigators last month took down a major bust at the Melbourne docks part of a probe into a two-state syndicate exporting cars stolen using OBDs.

A Toyota Landcruiser was found in a shipping container before it could be sent overseas

A stolen Toyota was recovered by police at the Melbourne docks