Mexico Cartels Push Laredo Rental Car Thefts Up 50%
CRIME · MEXICO
Key Facts
- —The country Mexico, where cartels take vehicles stolen from US rental fleets, according to US police officers and recovery firms.
- —Why it matters US rental companies lose vehicles that end up with Mexican cartels, which use them to move drugs and fight rivals, some fitted with armour.
- —Why now A Los Angeles Times investigation with Puente News Collaborative, published on Sunday 11 October, set out the scheme; Mexican papers carried it overnight.
- —What happened California Highway Patrol figures cited in the report show about 850 vehicles stolen in California recovered in Mexico each year since 2023.
- —The numbers Laredo police report a 50% rise in rental thefts, about 10 a month. Ten new Ram pickups taken from three western airports this year ended up in Jalisco.
- —What it means for you Anyone offered cash online to rent a car and leave the keys is being recruited into a theft. Renters’ identities are also being stolen for the purpose.
- —Still open No national count exists, and no Mexican government agency is quoted in the report.
Mexican cartels are turning stolen rental cars from the United States into private fleets of pickups and luxury SUVs. That is the finding of an investigation published on Sunday 11 October. Vehicles rented in California, Texas and Arizona are driven across the border and never returned. For American renters, rental companies and border towns, it is a cost and a crime risk that rarely makes the news.
The report is by Steve Fisher, writing for the Los Angeles Times and the bilingual nonprofit newsroom Puente News Collaborative. It draws on police officers, private recovery firms and the rental industry. Mexican outlets including El Universal and El Informador carried its findings on Sunday.
Nobody knows the exact number. It is believed to run to thousands a year, and recovery firms estimate that only a small share is ever found.
How the Rental Scheme Works
The method needs little stealth. In one version, cartels recruit people in the US on social media. Each rents a vehicle for five days and buys the damage waiver. The renter then leaves the keys inside on the rental lot, and a driver takes it south.
In another, thieves rent online or at a self-service kiosk with a stolen identity. Sergeant Juvey Mejia of the Los Angeles Police Department, a member of a regional auto theft task force, said renters wear masks to hide from kiosk cameras.
Cartels favour heavy-duty pickups, Jeeps, Chevrolet Suburbans, Ford Raptors and Toyota trucks that can outrun the Border Patrol on rough ground. They also want Cadillac Escalades and BMW SUVs for their bosses. Some trucks are fitted with steel plating, firing ports and gun mounts.
Kevin Carter, who runs the Texas recovery firm Collateral Consultants, put the logic simply. “There’s no sense in them buying a car when they could rent one for a few hundred bucks,” he told the newspaper.
Paperwork helps the thieves. A company must usually send the renter a demand letter before it can report a theft. Depending on the state, that can take up to nine days, by which time the vehicle is deep inside Mexico.
California is the top target. Its privacy law limits when rental firms may switch on GPS tracking. The American Car Rental Association is the industry’s trade group. It said members report “a sharp increase in rental vehicle theft from California into Mexico.”
Where the Vehicles End Up
Early this year, thieves took 10 new Ram pickups from airports in Oakland, Los Angeles and Las Vegas. Private investigators traced them to parts of Jalisco state held by the Jalisco New Generation Cartel. That group, known as CJNG, is among Mexico’s largest and most violent criminal organisations.
One truck was recovered with help from the Mexican army; security forces also seized .50-calibre weapons. Six 2026-model Jeep Wranglers taken from Oakland and Las Vegas were believed bound for the Sinaloa Cartel; four have been found.
The Sinaloa Cartel was co-founded by Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, now jailed in the US. His sons, known as Los Chapitos, are fighting a rival faction for control. A US official told the newspaper that cartels steal more vehicles when such turf wars break out.
Inside Mexico, recovery experts say, corrupt officials swap US plates for valid Mexican ones and register the vehicles. Because the plates are legal, highway scanners never flag them as stolen.
There are recoveries. In August, a CJNG member collected a trailer in Mexicali hiding a 2026 Cadillac Escalade and a Ram behind hay bales. National Guard soldiers waved it through one checkpoint; soldiers at the next one found the cars. The driver said he was to be paid nearly US$1,500.
Prosecutors have acted too. In December 2024 a Denver grand jury indicted 17 people linked to the Sinaloa Cartel. They are accused of stealing about 190 vehicles and trading them in Mexico for drugs. The charges were brought by the Denver District Attorney’s office, The Denver Post reported. The defendants are presumed innocent unless convicted.
What It Means for You
For US renters, the main risk is being drawn in. An online offer to rent a car, buy the waiver and leave the keys is a recruitment pitch for theft, not a side job. Guard your driving licence and card details, which thieves use at kiosks.
For rental customers more broadly, losses are real but hard to measure. Most rental firms insure themselves against theft, Bandago Van Rentals owner Sharky Laguana told the newspaper, so the cost lands on their books. The trade group speaks of millions of dollars a year.
For border communities, Laredo Deputy Police Chief Timothy Tubbs said stolen vehicles become “another tool” for smuggling. For travellers in Mexico, the report describes no new risk on the roads.
Anyone buying a used vehicle in Mexico can check it in the national vehicle registry, REPUVE, before paying. The report shows a clean record is no guarantee.
What Is Not Known
There is no reliable count of stolen rental cars taken to Mexico. The Highway Patrol figure covers all vehicles recovered in Mexico, not only rentals, and only those stolen in California.
The Laredo increase and the airport cases rest on police and private investigators quoted in the report and have not been independently confirmed. No Mexican government agency is quoted in the report, and US federal agencies are cited only through one unnamed official.
Related coverage: US Drug Czar Warns Mexican Governors Who Aid Cartels and Mexico Arrests Jalisco Cartel Operator ‘El Tanque’.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do cartels get stolen rental cars into Mexico?
Operatives rent vehicles in the US, often through recruited renters or stolen identities, and drive them across the border before the theft is reported. In Mexico the vehicles get valid local plates.
How many US rental cars end up in Mexico?
No one has an exact number. It is believed to be in the thousands a year. California Highway Patrol figures show about 850 vehicles stolen in California recovered in Mexico each year since 2023, rentals and private cars combined.
Why is California the main target?
California law limits when rental companies may use GPS tracking on overdue vehicles. By the time firms can locate them, many are already deep in Mexico, the industry says.
Sources: Los Angeles Times and Puente News Collaborative, 11 October 2026; El Universal; El Informador; Denver District Attorney indictment of 10 December 2024 as reported by The Denver Post.
This article was produced by The Rio Times’ automated newsroom system. How we use AI · Report an error · Editorial responsibility: Matthias Camenzind, Editor-in-Chief