In a multi-country operation culminating on 26 September, officers from the Bieszczady Border Guard stopped a Romanian driver at the Korczowa checkpoint as he attempted to leave Poland for Ukraine with a van loaded with car parts stripped from vehicles stolen in the United Kingdom. The six recovered components—bumpers, fenders and a tailgate—were valued at PLN 26,000. While the search was under way, Polish investigators working with Italian police located a Mercedes GLA worth an estimated PLN 200,000 that had disappeared from a Warsaw suburb three weeks earlier. The vehicle was seized in Milan and will be returned to Poland once forensic tests are completed. A separate incident earlier in the week saw a wanted Opel intercepted at the Budomierz crossing; its VIN had been tampered with and was flagged by German authorities. The cases highlight how Poland’s eastern frontier is increasingly exploited as an exit route for EU-sourced stolen vehicles and parts destined for resale markets in Ukraine, the Caucasus and Central Asia. Since the start of 2026, the Border Guard reports a 22 % rise in attempted automotive smuggling, with losses to insurers estimated at €38 million. For mobility managers who maintain company car fleets in Poland, the trend raises insurance premiums and underscores the value of GPS tracking and secure parking. Logistics operators should anticipate more intensive cargo inspections that could delay legitimate exports, especially in the run-up to the October holiday peak. Polish authorities say they will expand automatic plate-recognition cameras and integrate real-time Interpol data feeds at Korczowa and Dorohusk by Q1 2027, measures expected to slash vehicle-theft transit by half within a year.
Source: Kryminalki.pl
