Most stolen Toyota Hilux in Australia being sent to IS: terror experts

The medium-sized Toyota Hilux are the most stolen vehicle in the past two years by far in Sydney, and authorities believe they are being quickly shipped Turkey in containers, and then into Syria to be used by Islamic State soldiers, according to News Corp reports on Friday.

The Hilux, usually painted white, are the preferred vehicle for IS soldiers who mount machine guns in the open tray at the rear of the vehicle.

Global terror expert Professor Greg Barton told the Daily Mail he believed the four-wheel-drive prestige models are being exported to Turkey via shipping containers and then driven across the border to Syria.

It was reported by Australia's Macquarie Radio Network on Friday that Sydney car dealers warned purchasers that they were targeted by thieves and were rarely recovered.

Lukman Faily, the Iraqi ambassador to the United States, earlier told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation that in recent years, as IS has risen to prominence in Iraq and Syria, the terror group has acquired hundreds of new Toyota pickup trucks.

"This is a question we've been asking our neighbors," he said.

Listeners rang the 2GB radio station on Friday to claim dealers in some areas of Sydney heavily populated by Islamic people to lock the doors as they left the car yards as thieves could be waiting nearby.

Sydney police authorities have earlier been reported by local media saying the four wheel drive Hilux trucks are either shipped whole, or broken down into component parts and re-assembled at their destination. Endi