Reports show that an international car hire scam, based in Detroit, has now been foiled by federal agents. Apparently, this scam saw cars rented in the United States, and then people would drive these cars to Canada and report them as stolen. After that, they would ship the cars to Iraq.

The government has actually been trying to stop this little scam for the past two years. The federal government has been on the trail of this crime ring for some time now. The federal agents have dubbed this case Operation Hot Wheels.

Thanks to some investigation work, 13 suspects were arrested. 10 of the people were from Detroit, and the other three were from California. The scam involved luxury sedans and SUVs. These cars were typically worth anywhere from $25,000 to $60,000.

The criminals would actually legitimately rent cars. Most of the cars that they would rent included the Toyota Avalon, the Dodge Journey, and the Chevy Tahoe. After renting these cars, they would drive the cars up to Canada and report the cars as stolen. In five different cases, these so-called missing cars would shop up in shipping containers heading to Iraq via Turkey.

Some of the cars actually made it to Iraq. However, authorities at this point are not saying just how many cars made it to Iraq. Either way, this little scam cost car rental companies a lot of money. Currently, the defendants face charges that include transpiration of stolen property and related conspiracy charges. It is not yet known just how many years these criminals could be looking at for their crimes.