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Stolen Colorado bikes ending up in Mexico


June Bug
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Just came across this detailed article on a pipeline of  high end mountain bikes stolen in Colorado being sold through Alexander's Bikes in Juarez via facebook. Report reveals pipeline of stolen Colorado bikes ending up in Mexico

These are very sophisticated theft rings targeting bike shops in a way similar to the (literal) smash and grab at the Peddler.   Targeted bikes stolen from individuals and bike shops in Texas are most certainly being fenced in Mexico.  This really is big business with a huge payoff over time for the thieves. 

 

Edited by June Bug
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41 minutes ago, Bart said:

I still think some sort of GPS tracking device installed in your $$bike is the way to go. Wish I would've had one in my Honda Ruckus that got ripped off!

I totally disagree. I believe that the current GPS technology requires you to charge at too frequent of an interval to be of value. Bikes are rarely stole (in aggregate) so there is good odds that if yours is, you will not have charged the GPS at the right time.

Further, unless the police have an eyewitness account, they will not track your bike down, even if you tell them where it is. Just ask anyone with a stolen iPhone that literally stood on the front porch of the house indicated in the "Find my iPhone" app and had the cops decline to do anything about it. And in TX you have to assume everyone is armed, especially thieves. How badly do you want to find out? 

Locks. Big ass locks. And insurance. Those are your best defenses.

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1 hour ago, AustinBike said:

Locks. Big ass locks. And insurance. Those are your best defenses.

Good point, AB.  100% agree. 

I posted the link to the article to emphasize how organized and "professional" these theft rings are.  It's not a chop shop model, breaking down the bike and selling parts on CraigsList.  It's a smash and grab, get the entire bike to Mexico and sell with zero fear of repercussions. 

Although we sometimes think of Mexico as the poor neighbor to the south, there are plenty of wealthy  people with discretionary cash wanting to buy high end road and mtn bikes and these rings are stealing enough bikes that the cumulative worth is hundreds of thousands to over a million dollars. 

True, there have been two prolific lone wolf burglars in Austin who eventually got caught.  One guy integrated himself into the cycling community and would use the information on fellow riders to steal their bikes. He stole a LOT of bikes, eventually got caught and did some time in the gray bar hotel. 

The second guy was the prolific cat burgler.  Literally, he stole around on little cat feet, while people were home asleep, and stole their bikes.  He was also arrested, but I don't know the disposition of his case. 

But these organized theft ring guys are different and could be gang affiliated or even some cartel **** since there's a Mexico connection and money to be made -- a relatively low risk, high return revenue stream.  Eeeesh. 

Edited by June Bug
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Bikes are a better target than cars these days. You can fill a container with them and ship them south without *much* trouble. Try doing that with a car. Cars are far more obvious and, most importantly, have VINs. Every single car is registered and probably 99% of the stolen cars are reported. So a car with a VIN, even in a container, is a much more dangerous thing to ship. One Honda CRV would probably net as much as 6 high end bikes on the black market. Which would be cheaper and easier to ship?

The biggest differentiator is probably the fact that most stolen bikes are reported stolen but many of them do not have the serial numbers, nor is there any kind of true national database. If they catch a container full of bikes at the border they have little or no way to check validity. But a stolen car has a VIN stamped in several places.

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On 1/6/2022 at 2:27 PM, Bart said:

I still think some sort of GPS tracking device installed in your $$bike is the way to go. Wish I would've had one in my Honda Ruckus that got ripped off!

My son's Ruckus had GPS. It always drained his battery.

It didn't keep thieves from taking his Ruckus. It turned up a couple years later stripped.

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8 hours ago, AntonioGG said:

I think Apple Air tags are probably a good technology for bike security (after the big lock).  They are not GPS so they don't need a big battery.

I installed an Airtag on my pubcrawler - curious to see how long the battery lasts.

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1 hour ago, mack_turtle said:

Air tags seem pretty obvious to any bike thief who takes 5 minutes on the internet to recognize one. Something would need to be designed to look like an ordinary part of the bicycle so that it can go undetected.

There are now backpacks with air tag capability built in. I would expect that you'll find the same for bikes, but the real question will be the intrinsic value if the bike is stripped. The air tag is now tracking the seat post instead of the bike. 

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indeed, I think putting an Airtag on your bike provides a false sense of security. it's like putting a doorbell camera on your house: you get a good photo of the person who stole a package from your front porch for the police to pretend to file and then ignore.

 

Edited by mack_turtle
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Yeah, I am continually stunned by the number of times I see someone posting a picture asking if anyone knows this person who took their package. Like somehow we all hang out with these slimeballs. 

Big ass locks and chains do a much better job of deterring theft, technology has a pretty crappy track record and I am a tech guy. 

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3 hours ago, mack_turtle said:

Air tags seem pretty obvious to any bike thief who takes 5 minutes on the internet to recognize one. Something would need to be designed to look like an ordinary part of the bicycle so that it can go undetected.

My Airtag is pretty well-concealed. If this bike were ever to be lifted, I'd probably know within about 15-30 minutes --- quite possible that an Airtag might narrow down it's location before it got taken apart. Worth the minor cost and effort, in my view, but you should certainly all do as you wish with your bikes!

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11 minutes ago, TAF said:

My Airtag is pretty well-concealed. If this bike were ever to be lifted, I'd probably know within about 15-30 minutes --- quite possible that an Airtag might narrow down it's location before it got taken apart. Worth the minor cost and effort, in my view, but you should certainly all do as you wish with your bikes!

ethical quandary:

sharing with us would make a better concealed Airtag an option for more bike owners.
however, sharing this info with the public also makes it easier for thieves to know how to beat it.

I usually lock my bike up in the garage. if someone does steal it, getting that POS back is probably not worth the effort.

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7 minutes ago, mack_turtle said:

ethical quandary:

sharing with us would make a better concealed Airtag an option for more bike owners.
however, sharing this info with the public also makes it easier for thieves to know how to beat it.

I usually lock my bike up in the garage. if someone does steal it, getting that POS back is probably not worth the effort.

Not sure I really understand your post. My bikes are kept in the house, which is alarmed. I'm really only concerned about a situation where some brazen thief hacks my Abus folding lock right outside the pub door, and makes off with it on the spot. I feel that having an Airtag might give me an edge before they got too far. Don't lose sleep pondering ethical dilemmas!

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sorry, that was a lame attempt at a joke. to clarify: if you think you have an effective way to hide an Airtag, sharing your method with the rest of us would benefit all of us, but it would expose the secret to bike thieves. the current market options I have seen for Airtags might as well have a label that says "NOT A TRACKING DEVICE" because it's so obvious. they may be scum, but thieves stay in the game if they are good at what they do. anyone who is serious about stealing bikes probably knows how to cut or pick most locks, and they're paying attention to how people are using tracking devices. put yourself in their shoes: if you wanted to steal bikes, you'd be scanning the internet for discussions about tracking devices and ways to "hide" them so you know how to remove one and drop it in the nearest storm drain 30 seconds after grabbing the bike.

if you have a good way to hide one, keep that secret for yourself!

Edited by mack_turtle
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I certainly did not imply that having an Airtag was the only solution and I don't know why anyone would think I would suggest such a thing.  If you don't think it would be a benefit to you or anyone else on top of your lock and alarm and what-have-you, that's fine.  Also, I'm assuming everyone here knows about airtags, how they work, and how small they are?  Some of the replies make me think they are not.    TL;DR They are tiny and can be easily hidden, and they are $30.

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I think there's a disconnect in the conversation.  I think of these tags as something I'd used in the immediate (minutes to a few hours) time after it got stolen.  I think a lot of you are thinking about this way farther down the line.  There's more value for one than the other.

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6 hours ago, mack_turtle said:

if you have a good way to hide one, keep that secret for yourself!

The options for attaching one are really pretty limited, unfortunately. Interestingly, an Airtag is almost the exact size of a headset cap -- now if Apple would only produce one in matt black with a bolt hole thru the center, THAT would be a game changer!

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I was chatting about this with a buddy recently who new a guy that got his SC Bronson stolen out of the back of his truck at Querro's lot several months ago. They cut the lock but he had a tag somewhere on his bike and he ended up tracking it to SE Austin. He rolled up and spotted a punk riding it in a apartment complex lot. Long story short the thief gotta broken nose and he got his bike back.   

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22 hours ago, mack_turtle said:

 

if you have a good way to hide one, keep that secret for yourself!

Is it possible to hide one in the bottom bracket area of the frame? Seems like most, if not all thieves wouldn't pull the BB. Particularly if they're PF.

Edited by ATXZJ
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seems like there's a parallel phenomenon in every hobby:

https://tpwd.texas.gov/newsmedia/releases/?req=20220110a

Texas Game Warden’s Investigation Results in Organized Crime Ring Bust and Multiple Arrests
Jan. 10, 2022

The two year, multi-agency effort led to high praise, award nominations and safer coastal communities

GALVESTON – What started off as a run-of-the-mill investigation into a series of boat title discrepancies, concluded this past summer with multiple felony charges against three individuals suspected of running an interstate theft ring and the recovery of over $275,000 worth of stolen watercraft and other vehicles. Sergeant Game Warden Jonathan Griffin of the Marine Theft Investigation Unit facilitated an impressive two-year investigation into the organized crime ring leading to a nomination for Investigator of the Year Award by the International Association of Marine Investigators.

“Considering that this is an international award I am really humbled to have been nominated,” said Sergeant Griffin. “I am very grateful to the Galveston County Auto Crimes Task Force and the other agencies across Texas, Alabama, and Florida who assisted with the resources necessary to build a strong case to hand over to the district attorney’s office for prosecution.”

Sergeant Griffin further explained that the case began with a tip from the La Marque Texas Parks and Wildlife Department Law Enforcement Office regarding an individual titling numerous jet skis in their name at very low purchase prices. Eventually, a Florida county tax office notified the Sergeant that the suspect and a second individual were also titling a number of jet skis in Florida in the same manner.

Over the following months, the Marine Theft Investigation Unit worked to trace the jet skis that were bought and sold by the suspects. The investigators  uncovered that the jet skis being titled were actually stolen throughout Texas and then sold across multiple gulf states with false titles and identification numbers. Their work then identified a third suspect who had participated in the activity.

 “After recovering  27 stolen vessels  and trailers, we filed charges and arrested the three suspects for theft and engaging in organized crime,” said Griffin. “While the charges are pending, we are working  to locate and recover more stolen jet skis and boats that may have been sold using the same scheme.  It has been satisfying to be able to help get this property back to the rightful owners.”

The case is currently being handled by the Galveston County District Attorney’s office.

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