The_Assessor_Spring 2026 web - Flipbook - Page 15
JOURNAL
CAR PARTS
PARTS PRICES
FUEL SURGE IN
CHOP SHOPS
The number of illegal so-called “chop shops” has surged as
Tracker and police shut down 30% more sites in 2025, with
soaring car parts prices and cost-of-living pressures meaning
“no car is immune to theft”.
nderlining the UK’s
relentless car theft
epidemic, stolen vehicle
recovery expert (SVR)
Tracker Network Uk,
working with police forces nationwide,
shut down a record 78 illegal ‘chop
shops’ in 2025, a 30% year-on-year
rise.
U
However, warns Tracker, as one
chop-shop closes another quickly
opens elsewhere, with organised crime
gangs acting with speed and scale to
keep ahead of law enforcement efforts.
In 2020, Tracker and the police shut
down just two chop shops compared
to the 78 last year, con昀椀rming the
sophistication and persistence of
professional thieves. Cars of every
make and model, value and age,
are being stolen by criminals to be
stripped of their parts and sold on
for pro昀椀t, in a bid to capitalise on
consumer demand for quality
second-hand parts at an affordable
price.
With cost-of-living pressures and
consumer caution impacting how long
people keep their cars – 43% of the
cars on the UK roads now over ten
years old – Tracker warns that the sale
of illegally harvested car parts looks set
to continue.
As well as uncovering an
unprecedented number of chop shops,
Tracker also helped UK police stop
career criminals in their tracks, with
147 arrests made, surpassing the total
昀椀gure for 2024.
Clive Wain, Head of Police Liaison at
Tracker commented:
“Although we have not won the war
on vehicle theft, our close collaboration
with UK police and law enforcement
bodies means we are winning
signi昀椀cant battles. A year-on-year rise
of nearly a third in the number of chop
shops found and closed is signi昀椀cant.
However, many career criminals are
willing to risk prosecution due to the
substantial pro昀椀ts made through the
illegal trade in stolen vehicles and their
parts, which means we are in truth,
playing a chop shop equivalent of
whack-a-mole.”
www.iaea-online.org/news/the-assessor | SPRING 2026 | THE ASSESSORS JOURNAL
The hidden whereabouts of the illegal
chop shops found by Tracker and the
police were uncovered as a direct result
of Tracker’s unique combination of VHF
with GPS/GSM technology, leading
police directly to them. Critically,
these devices are immune to GPS/
GSM jamming, a method often used
by thieves to mask a vehicle’s location.
Not even industrial-sized jammers that
police frequently 昀椀nd when raiding
chop shops are able to match Tracker’s
technology.
Tracker is the only stolen vehicle
recovery provider with a formal
agreement with all UK police forces,
with most police cars and all police
helicopters equipped with its
technology.
Clive said: “By working strategically
with the police and sharing intelligence
we are delivering tangible results. This
uni昀椀ed approach is not only proving
highly effective in identifying and
dismantling illegal chop shops, but
also and crucially, disrupting organised
criminal networks, helping slow down
vehicle theft nationwide.”
JOURNAL
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