Interpol And Nigeria Customs Seizes Six Vehicles – Toyota And Lexus Models – Reported Stolen In Canada

Nigeria Customs and Interpol has discovers six vehicles – Toyota and Lexus models – reported stolen in Canada in 2024.

The 6 vehicles were discovered during checks of freight containers from Canada – 4 of which showed clear signs of break-in.

Interpol says Toyota and Honda models ranks highest among stolen vehicles tracked to West Africa during two-weeks operation.

Last year, 270,000 vehicles were identified as stolen globally through the INTERPOL’s Stolen Motor Vehicle database.

A two-week operation – codenamed ‘Safe Wheels’ – coordinated by the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL) in West Africa, has led to the detection of approximately 150 stolen vehicles and the seizure of more than 75 vehicles.

Carried out by national law enforcement agencies in 12 West African countries, the operation, which targets vehicle crime, also established that Toyota, Honda and Peugeot models are the most stolen vehicles traced from Canada to West Africa.

The stolen vehicles were detected through INTERPOL’s Stolen Motor Vehicle (SMV) database, which allows police in the Organization’s 196 member countries to run a check against a suspicious vehicle and find out instantly whether it has been reported as stolen.

During the two-week operational phase (17-30 March 2025), law enforcement in participating countries carried out an average of 46 checkpoints each day and inspected a total of 12,600 vehicles, checking their details against INTERPOL’s SMV database.

“Out of the vehicles seized or flagged as stolen, Toyota models were the most represented, followed by Peugeot and Honda. Both land and sea routes were used to traffic stolen vehicles detected during the operation,” INTERPOL said in a statement.

In Lagos, Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) officers discovered six vehicles (Toyota and Lexus models) during checks of freight containers purportedly from Canada – four of which showed clear signs of break-in.

Checks against INTERPOL’s SMV database confirmed that all the six vehicles discovered by the Nigeria Customs in Lagos, Nigeria, were reported stolen in Canada in 2024.

To support Operation Safe Wheels, nine law enforcement officers and experts from INTERPOL’s SMV Task Force, including an expert examiner from Canada, were also deployed to the region – in Benin, Cabo Verde, Gambia, Ghana, Nigeria and Togo.

Last year, around 270,000 vehicles were identified as stolen globally through the INTERPOL’s Stolen Motor Vehicle (SMV) database.

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