During the first two months of the year, car thefts in Stockholm have tripled when compared with January-February last year. It is primarily exclusive car brands such as Audi, BMW, Mercedes and Porsche that the specialized leagues focus on. The thieves target floodlights, airbags and navigation systems.
Rear view mirrors and decks are also lucrative for thieves.
- A steering wheel from a BMW can be sold for SEK 22,000, so this is a huge amount of money that these crime networks come across, says Fredrik Lindstedt at the Border Police in Stockholm.
A report from the National Police Department's Operational Department, NOA, identifies people from former eastern states as those behind the thefts and the border police agree.
- There are international networks that steal car parts in Sweden and it is often young men who are not particularly criminally charged. They come mainly from Lithuania and Romania, says Fredrik Lindstedt.
Customs gives priority to cars that drive into the country- We spend about 1 percent of our control time on cars leaving Sweden. The other 99 percent impose a duty on controlling vehicles, parcels and people entering Sweden, says Peter Matsson, Deputy Director at Customs in Stockholm.
- These headlights I think are on a ferry now, that's my guess. I think it will be difficult to get them back, says Porsche owner Håkan Eriksson.
See more in Week's Crime Tuesday from 8 pm on SVT Play or 10 pm on SVT1