CHESAPEAKE, Va. — Leaders with U.S. Customs and Border Protection are the first line of defense when it comes to what is coming in and out of our country.
They showed News 3 some of the illegal items they have found in Hampton Roads, like drugs, stolen cars, faulty merchandise and heavy equipment.
CBP Area Port Director Mark Laria said he is responsible for Virginia and West Virginia. His team showed News 3 their facility in Chesapeake, which is where suspicious containers from the Port are taken.
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They showed us a shipping container packed to the brim with all kinds of random stuff. When you look closely, hidden among the mess, you can see a Mercedes-Benz car.
“My targeters in this building have seen so many (stolen cars) that they know the indicators to look for,” said Laria.
One of the shipping containers had two cars stacked on top of each other. They also told us criminals will cut cars in half and try to ship them labeled as auto parts to avoid detection.
They showed us all the recent stolen cars they found that were headed to either West Africa or the Middle East to eventually be resold.
“It’s a very lucrative international criminal organization,” said Laria. “We were second in the nation on the outbound side for outbound stolen vehicles and equipment, only second to New York.”
In Hampton Roads, CBP reports they recovered 180 stolen vehicles in 2023, which is a 158% increase over the previous year.
“Most of the vehicles come from the Northeast and Midwest. They’re stolen up there. They come down here,” said Laria.
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Stolen cars can be a lucrative industry. They showed us a picture of the highest-valued stolen vehicle found last year: a Lamborghini which they said was worth about $250,000. They said it was being shipped from Norfolk to West Africa.
They say they uncovered $10 million worth of stolen cars in our region last year.
“In the beginning, they were kind of late model older vehicles with an occasional high-end vehicle. Now, they’re all high-end vehicles,” said Laria.
And it’s not just cars: Laria said they enforce regulations of over 40 different federal agencies.
Recently, they found 117 grams of fentanyl inside of a car that was leaving Norfolk.
They use technology to search the goods coming and going out of the country.
“We have a few drug seizures every now and then, but for the most part, it is people trying to bring counterfeit goods... or goods that would potentially harm the person who buys them here,” said Laria.
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Sometimes, they find stolen heavy equipment that you would see on a construction site. Back in October, $200,000 worth of equipment bound for Spain was discovered and brought back to Norfolk.
Laria said they found weapons and ammunition in the past.
It’s an overwhelming task with a lot to search, but Laria said he has truly enjoyed his career and wouldn’t change a thing.
With retirement on the horizon, he says it’s a job he loves.
“You never stop hopping to the issue of the day. There is always a new issue that has to be addressed right away,” said Laria.
He offered some advice to the public: “Take care of your vehicles. Do the smart thing: lock them and don’t leave valuables in it.”
Authorities stress that you want to make sure you lock your car. They also suggested possibly investing in a GPS tracking system because you don’t want to wonder where in the world is your car wound up if it gets stolen.
