The Netherlands is facing a shocking surge in car thefts in the first half of this year – a whopping 20% increase compared to the same period last year! Yes, you read that right. Thieves have become so bold and sophisticated that they’re not just stealing any cars, but expensive, valuable, and highly sought-after models like the Toyota RAV4, which tops the list of stolen vehicles this year.
Edvin Karelsen, director of VBV (the insurance bureau for vehicle theft), reveals that thieves don’t just steal cars—they smuggle them in containers to African countries like Ghana. And it gets worse: criminals use special equipment to start cars quickly without keys, by hooking devices up to the headlights.
The financial damage? The average value of a stolen car has jumped 30%, now around €17,000, and the total damage from vehicle thefts has skyrocketed by 60%, reaching a staggering €64 million!
Clearly, the Netherlands is battling a car theft epidemic, and police and insurance companies are in full panic mode. Will the government wake up and tackle this problem seriously before it spirals out of control? Or will we all soon have to sleep with our keys in hand and alarms blaring everywhere?
Got a funny or scary car theft story? Drop it in the comments—maybe together we can figure out how to survive this madness!
