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. 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. But California remains the top target.
Each year, about 2,000 vehicles stolen from California end up in Mexico, according to the California Highway Patrol. Juvey Mejia, a member of the Task Force for Regional Auto Theft Prevention, said the cartels love heavy-duty pickup trucks and Jeeps. 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.
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. The thefts don’t require much stealth: vehicles are rented in the U.S. by cartel operatives and then driven across the border. The exact number of vehicles is unknown.
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. 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. By then, most stolen vehicles are deep in Mexican territory.
The American Car Rental Assn., a trade group, said in a statement that California laws make it harder to recover vehicles. The trucks ended up in Jalisco state in regions controlled by the violent Jalisco New Generation Cartel. The private investigators recovered one truck with help from the Mexican army.
Security forces also seized a cache of Browning and Barrett .50-caliber weapons. In another haul this year, thieves stole six 2026 model Jeep Wranglers from Oakland and Las Vegas. Four have been recovered so far.
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