Thieves stole close to 15 units of the expensive truck
Close to 10 Mustang Shelby GT500s were also stolen in the last few months
13 of the trucks have been recovered and one individual was arrested
A recent spree of thefts at car factories in Michigan could prompt automakers to reinforce the security at their facilities.
Earlier this month, thieves took off with around 15 units of the new Ford F-150 Raptor, totalling over $1 million dollars worth, from a storage lot near Ford’s Dearborn factory.
This is not the first time Ford is the victim of thieves, since four Mustang Shelby GT500s disappeared from the company’s Flat Rock factory last December, and an additional unspecified number of the same model were swiped from the same place again just last week.
Ford isn’t the only automaker to be targeted, since Stellantis and General Motors have also recently reported thefts from their Michigan factories, including a Camaro that was taken from the Lansing plant last month.
In the case of the Raptors, police have already recovered 13 trucks and arrested one individual but unfortunately for Ford, most of the trucks were stripped and damaged in the week between their theft and their recovery.
The arrest that was made is currently the biggest lead on the crime spree and the police hope it will lead to dismantling what they assume is one large organized car theft network.
This assumption is caused by the relative proximity of all of the theft locations and the large number of cars stolen in a couple of those instances.
It is interesting to note that thefts don’t seem to be such a problem at the numerous car factories present elsewhere in the US, which could contribute to strengthening the recent trend that sees automakers abandoning the Midwest and installing their new factories in the south instead.
