Criminals are exploiting the proceeds from scams to acquire decommissioned Swedish cars, which are subsequently trafficked and sold in Nigeria, Swedish Radio News has uncovered.
Despite being classified as hazardous waste and prohibited from export to Africa, deregistered cars, often unsuitable for road use, are finding their way to Nigeria, presenting a myriad of dangers.
An in-depth investigation by Swedish Radio News has revealed that individuals engaged in the illicit exportation of aged Swedish automobiles to the profitable Nigerian market are intertwined with global fraud networks.
The investigation uncovered a pattern wherein criminals, leveraging funds from romance scams, procure scrapped Swedish vehicles for export to Nigeria.
According to the findings:
“In Sweden, a deregistered vehicle is typically categorized as hazardous waste and forbidden from being shipped to Africa.” Criminal entities orchestrating this illegal trade obtain personal information from the Swedish Transport Agency to contact and coerce owners of older vehicles into selling.
Swedish Radio News elaborates, “Perpetrators of this illicit car export trade in Nigeria are acquiring personal data from the Swedish Transport Agency to harass registered car owners in Sweden into selling their vehicles.”
Furthermore, Swedish authorities have observed that several individuals implicated in this unlawful export activity to Nigeria also have ties to transnational fraud syndicates.
The police underscored:
“Individuals involved in the unauthorized export of vehicles to Nigeria have managed to acquire comprehensive information about vehicle owners. Despite many of these vehicles being inoperable and unroadworthy for extended periods, they still find their way to Nigeria, posing diverse risks.”
