Austin, Texas – For years, troubling trends have been unfolding across major Texas cities. Stolen vehicles, once a local issue, are increasingly heading south, fueling criminal enterprises across the border. This isn’t just a small theft. It is a sophisticated business that leverages the vulnerabilities of the car rental industry, and ultimately affects Texans every day.
Until five years ago, things had already become more severe. The car’s images were plagued by bullet holes, tagged with cartel doodles and stern pictures. These were not just abandoned vehicles. They were tools of war. As Webb County Sheriff Martin Cuerard said in his 2019 archive, “There’s a really bad gun fight in Nuevo Laredo, and the vehicle doesn’t go south and it’s working on being used by cartels.”
But the methods have evolved. Currently, criminals are using social media to recruit young drivers. Deception Scheme: Borrow a car and buy a Collision Damage Waiver (CDW) – a contract designed to protect renters from liability – simply leave your keys behind in your car. By the morning, the vehicles had been “disappearing” and disappeared into a network that made these cars stand out to the south.
Craig Sepich of the National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB) describes the social media post as shocking.
“The NICB currently supports the bill proposed by San Antonio Texas Senator John Luhan, whose aim is to dismantle this criminal conspiracy targeting the rental car company.
Sepich explains the intent of the proposed bill. “It’s kind of a matter of working with investigators, law enforcement car rental agents, and addressing the drawback of people who may not have been open about it, simply by tightening the parameters to prevent people from intentionally exploiting loopholes.”
Lujan’s proposed law attempts to void the collision’s damage exemption in the case of a renter being stolen and fraud.
Fails to return key.fails and submits a police report within 24 hours.
According to Lujan, the financial burden of the fraud is not just the rental company.
“At the end of the day, they may steal cars and steal money from these insurance companies, but the people who really pay it are us, honest, law-abiding citizens, and we are paying for this racket. The costs of these fraudulent claims ultimately lead to an increase in insurance premiums for everyone.”
The scale of the problem is important. Data provided by Enterprise Mobility, which consists of Enterprise, Alamo and National Car Rental Brands, reveals that in fiscal year 2023-24 alone, more than 100 unrecovered vehicles from the Houston and San Antonio regions have been confirmed across the border by license plate readers.
This trend has made San Antonio the top metropolitan area with vehicle theft rates nationwide. “Currently, San Antonio ranks 18th in the metropolitan area, and because of the vehicle theft rate, it will have a major impact on people in those communities,” Sepich said.
Representative Lujan’s bill represents an important step to not only protecting car rental companies from this organized fraud, but also ensuring that legitimate renters remain covered in true cases of theft. It’s a move to close the loophole of criminals exploiting, and to ensure that honest Texans don’t leave behind bills for crimes that cross borders.
Click here to see some of the previous stories dating back to 2019 and 2020 in the Stolen Car.
