Kansas City Trucks Stolen to Deliver Drugs, Illegals

Last Edited: Wednesday, 30 Jan 2008, 5:46 PM CST


KANSAS CITY, MO. -- Pick-up truck owners beware! Police say lately, thieves are passing over luxury cars and expensive SUV's to steal heavy-duty pick-up trucks.

Why? A pick-up truck can be an indispensable tool for a criminal. Police say the trucks are used to haul stolen scrap metal or to transport illegal immigrants. And, they're big and offer lots of hiding places for drugs.

Sue Hilton thought she'd never see her new three-quarter ton pick-up truck again. But, shortly after thieves stole it, Kansas City police found it. It was in great condition, until she looked inside at the odometer. It had been driven 6,000 miles in only five days.

"It was doing some heavy hauling. It had been gone a lot of miles. We figured it out in mileage, about 80 hours at 70 miles an hour. That's a lot of driving," said Hilton.


Police told her the truck most likely was driven to Texas and back to smuggle drugs or illegal immigrants to Kansas City.

"The thing that surprised me the most was tobacco was found in the back seat. Cigar tobacco. I was told that was because they were filling cigars with marijuana and put all the tobacco on the floorboards," said Hilton.

Police auto theft specialist Steve Downing said three-quarter and one ton trucks are hot targets right now. The heavy-duty trucks often are used to uproot ATM machines or haul away other stolen loot.

"Whatever they're delivering, it's either illegals or somebody that lives down there. Or drugs will end up, up here," said Downing.

Downing said Hilton is lucky her truck made it back to Kansas City. Often vehicles stolen here are recovered in Texas. And, Texas trucks sometimes end up in Kansas City's impound lot.

Police said that heavy-duty trucks, particularly Ford F-250s and F-350s, are easier to steal because they lack anti-theft systems found on passenger cars.

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