Thief spotted taking car carrier of BMWs, experts say it could be a global crime ring

CHAMBLEE, Ga. — A thief was caught on camera stealing a car carrier full of new BMWs, according to the Chamblee Police Department.

The carrier was loaded with seven SUVs and parked in a Lowe’s parking lot on Peachtree Blvd. when investigators believe someone broke in through a window.

GPS coordinates on the truck show it traveled 22 miles to Turnpoint Blvd. near Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, where sat for an hour and a half before taking off down Old Dixie Hwy. and Charles W. Grant Pkwy, according to the police report.

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By 10:00 am Sunday, Clayton County Police Department found the carrier and three of the SUVs. On Monday, an officer said he found another SUV parked near the Renaissance Concourse Atlanta Airport Hotel.

That would leave three SUVs missing as of Friday evening. They have not yet found the remaining four.

“They could be in a local criminal’s backyard or garage some place, or they could be anywhere from west Africa to east Asia,” said retired FBI agent Marc Benjamin.

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Channel 2′s Courtney Francisco spoke to Benjamin, who retired from the FBI as a Supervisory Special Agent in the gang and violent crime units.

“The value of stolen cars ranges from joy riding to conducting criminal activity to conducting gang activity and potentially shipped overseas,” said Benjamin. “What happens then could be anyone’s guess. It could be, once again, use of luxury vehicles or joyrides or all the way up to financing criminal and terrorist organizations.”

Benjamin said getting away with theft like this would require a team with multiple skill sets ranging from key fob cloning to towing.

“Typically, there’s going to be someone who has knowledge of heavy equipment, someone with a CDL, that’s a commercial driver license, maybe even someone who’s previously worked in the car industry to understand the security requirements and how to overcome those,” said Benjamin.

Channel 2 Action News has reached out to both police departments investigating this case for more information, but has not yet heard back.

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