The £60,000 Land Rover Discovery Sport turned up in Irkutsk, Russia after being stolen in London – and local police are hoping to return it to its rightful owner
Stolen Land Rover Discovery found in Russia
A premium Land Rover Discovery Sport stolen in London has finally been found – a whole 5,000 miles away in Siberia.
The black crossover was tracked down via Interpol, and Russian authorities now say it will be returned to its rightful owner. The Land Rover was identified in Irkutsk when the new ‘owner’ tried to register the vehicle, which in Britain costs between £43,445 to £57,920. Traffic police suspected it had been illegally imported into Russia.
A Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs spokesperson in the Irkutsk region said: “Being vigilant, the police officers initiated an inspection of the vehicle Employees of the regional Interpol unit confirmed that the car had been stolen from a British resident.
The law enforcement authorities of the United Kingdom had initiated a criminal case on this fact, and the car itself was declared wanted through Interpol channels.
“The identification numbers of the car body and engine matched those of the stolen car, indicating it was exported by a gang involved in illegally trading vehicles. Interpol cooperation with the UK law enforcement agencies is currently being established. The car has been placed under arrest with a view to its subsequent return to the legal owner.”
The Russian authorities did not give details of the original number plate nor of the UK owner. Irkutsk is five time zones east of Russian capital Moscow.
More high-end vehicles are being stolen in the UK to ship abroad to wealthy buyers in Russia, the Middle East, Africa or Asia.
Last month, Essex Police busted two shipping containers containers with six stolen vehicles, including Bentleys, Lexus and Land Rovers. They had been stolen from locations in Essex, Thames Valley and London, and were discovered in the containers surrounded by mattresses following joint ongoing work at the ports. The force said they seized over 60 containers of stolen cars and stolen parts so far in 2024.
