Toronto Man’s Stolen SUV Tracked to Dubai with Apple AirTag

A Toronto man experienced the theft of his 2022 GMC Yukon XL from his driveway last August, marking the second such incident within the year.

What’s a person to do? Hide some Apple AirTags inside the SUV in case it happens again. That’s exactly what happened, with ‘Andrew’ able to track his stolen SUV from a local rail yard to the Port of Montreal, and then to a used car lot in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

“Not again,” ‘Andrew’ thought upon discovering the theft, according to CBC News, who concealed his name. Despite his efforts, including hiring a private investigator and contacting Interpol, the SUV remains unrecovered.

“We’ve done everything we possibly can, save going over there and trying to take it back ourselves,” Andrew said in an interview with CBC News. “I want my truck back.”

The saga began when Andrew and his wife returned from vacation to find signs of an attempted theft. Hours later, the SUV was gone. Using AirTags, Andrew tracked the vehicle across the Greater Toronto Area and alerted local police. Days after the theft, an officer located the SUV in a container at a rail yard but lacked authority to open it.

“That’s the pinnacle of the frustration,” Andrew said, “knowing that it’s still here, but it’s about to disappear.”

The vehicle’s journey didn’t stop in Montreal. It was later tracked to Antwerp, Belgium, and then near Dubai, over 11,000 kilometers from Toronto. A private investigator located the SUV in a used car lot, its VIN matching Andrew’s vehicle.

The Toronto Police Service confirmed the case is active, while the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) reported intercepting 1,806 stolen vehicles in 2023, a 34% increase from the previous year. Det. Insp. Scott Wade from the Ontario Provincial Police described the situation as “unusual,” noting efforts are typically made to retrieve stolen vehicles.

“It’s alarmingly common for criminals to move stolen vehicles in containers on trains or trucks, then to export them to the Middle East, Europe, or northern Africa,” Wade said.

Finding out your car is stolen? That sucks. Discovering it’s halfway around the world? That sucks even more. AirTags rely on a network of millions of iPhones to send location data back to owners.