Let’s go places — like Syria and Iraq.
The U.S. government can’t figure out how ISIS terrorists got their
hands on hundreds of brand new Toyota pickup trucks, and the Japanese
automaker is stumped, too.
Top U.S. counterterror officials probed the automaker about how the Islamic State acquired a fleet of new cars after souped-up Toyota pickups loaded with weapons and packed with fighters began appearing in its propaganda videos, ABC News reported.
“This is a question we’ve been asking our neighbors,” said Lukman Faily, the Iraqi Ambassador to the United States. “How could these brand new trucks — these four-wheel drives, hundreds of them — where are they coming from?”
Toyota told officials it has no idea how ISIS got so many of its vehicles. The auto giant supports the United States' investigation, said Ed Lewis, Toyota’s director of communications.
Lewis said while Toyota has a “strict policy to not sell vehicles to potential purchasers who may use or modify them for paramilitary or terrorist activities,” it cannot track trucks that have been stolen and resold. Many of the featured cars are older models, he said.
The ISIS videos show fighters driving Toyota Hilux pickups, the overseas version of the Tacoma. While some are older, repurposed models, others appear to be brand new.
In one clip, a caravan of white trucks emblazoned with ISIS’ black seal, rolled through Raqqa. Two thirds of those trucks were Toyotas, which rode alongside Mitsubishi, Hyundai and Isuzu pickups.
“Regrettably, the Toyota Land Cruiser and Hilux have effectively become almost part of the ISIS brand,” said Mark Wallace, CEO of the anti-terror nonprofit Counter Extremism Project. “In nearly every ISIS video, they show a fleet — a convoy of Toyota vehicles and that’s very concerning to us.”
Wallace added that ISIS’ trucks go beyond propaganda — the fighters also use them for terror activities and military operations.
While Toyota likely never “intentionally profited” from the terrorists, they are now aware of the problem and should do more to halt ISIS’ acquisitions, Wallace said.
“They should be able to figure it out,” he told ABC News. “How are these trucks getting there?”
Reports from Toyota show it sold 13,000 Hilux and Land Cruisers in Iraq in 2014, fewer than 2013’s 18,000 and more than 2011’s 6,000.
None of the Japanese automakers’ Iraq dealerships have sold to terrorists, Toyota said — but the company would take action if it learned one was. A former dealership in Syria stopped selling trucks in 2012, a spokesman said.
Top U.S. counterterror officials probed the automaker about how the Islamic State acquired a fleet of new cars after souped-up Toyota pickups loaded with weapons and packed with fighters began appearing in its propaganda videos, ABC News reported.
“This is a question we’ve been asking our neighbors,” said Lukman Faily, the Iraqi Ambassador to the United States. “How could these brand new trucks — these four-wheel drives, hundreds of them — where are they coming from?”
Toyota told officials it has no idea how ISIS got so many of its vehicles. The auto giant supports the United States' investigation, said Ed Lewis, Toyota’s director of communications.
Lewis said while Toyota has a “strict policy to not sell vehicles to potential purchasers who may use or modify them for paramilitary or terrorist activities,” it cannot track trucks that have been stolen and resold. Many of the featured cars are older models, he said.
The ISIS videos show fighters driving Toyota Hilux pickups, the overseas version of the Tacoma. While some are older, repurposed models, others appear to be brand new.
In one clip, a caravan of white trucks emblazoned with ISIS’ black seal, rolled through Raqqa. Two thirds of those trucks were Toyotas, which rode alongside Mitsubishi, Hyundai and Isuzu pickups.
“Regrettably, the Toyota Land Cruiser and Hilux have effectively become almost part of the ISIS brand,” said Mark Wallace, CEO of the anti-terror nonprofit Counter Extremism Project. “In nearly every ISIS video, they show a fleet — a convoy of Toyota vehicles and that’s very concerning to us.”
Wallace added that ISIS’ trucks go beyond propaganda — the fighters also use them for terror activities and military operations.
While Toyota likely never “intentionally profited” from the terrorists, they are now aware of the problem and should do more to halt ISIS’ acquisitions, Wallace said.
“They should be able to figure it out,” he told ABC News. “How are these trucks getting there?”
Reports from Toyota show it sold 13,000 Hilux and Land Cruisers in Iraq in 2014, fewer than 2013’s 18,000 and more than 2011’s 6,000.
None of the Japanese automakers’ Iraq dealerships have sold to terrorists, Toyota said — but the company would take action if it learned one was. A former dealership in Syria stopped selling trucks in 2012, a spokesman said.
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