Carlos Ghosn explains how terrorist groups get their Japanese trucks despite sanctions

In the early 2000s, the Toyota Hilux and pick-up variants of the Toyota Land Cruiser 70 series were the vehicles of choice for terrorist groups in the Middle East. How these terrorist groups procure so many Toyota trucks is something that not even the supposedly all-knowing US can answer.

The Taliban and its offshoot organizations ISIL (Da’esh) and Al-Qaeda are on the sanctions list of many governments around the world, but that did not stop these rogue groups from procuring many relatively new Toyota pick-up trucks, which are quickly converted to carry heavy weapons.

In 2015, Toyota was asked to answer an enquiry by the US government on the matter. “We briefed Treasury on Toyota’s supply chains in the Middle East and the procedures that Toyota has in place to protect supply chain integrity,” said Ed Lewis, Toyota’s Washington-based director of public policy and communications.

Lewis added that Toyota has a “strict policy to not sell vehicles to potential purchasers who may use or modify them for paramilitary or terrorist activities, but also said that it is impossible for the company to track vehicles that have been stolen, or have been bought and re-sold by middlemen.

It would’ve been easy to answer the question if these Hiluxes were written off older generation models, which many of them are, but a quick look at news reels will tell you that there are also many of many reasonably new Toyota Hilux and Land Cruisers used.

The Iraqi Ambassador to the United States, Lukman Faily, told ABC News “This is a question we’ve been asking our neighbors,” Faily said. “How could these brand new trucks... these four wheel drives, hundreds of them -- where are they coming from?”

Carlos Ghosn, the former chairman of the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Motors Alliance, who was also the former CEO of Renault and Nissan until he was ousted in a coup, said the answer is obvious enough to anyone who has enough understanding of how the Middle East car trade network.

In his book ‘Broken alliances – Inside the rise and fall of a global automotive empire,’ Ghosn was speaking in the context of answering allegations of breach of trust and misuse of company funds, involving Nissan’s Middle Eastern distributor Khaled Juffali Company (KJC).

We don’t want to go too off-tangent from the topic, so we will focus only on the procurement of Toyota trucks by terrorist groups.

Ghosn, who is also fluent in Arabic and understands the Middle East very well, explained that the Middle East region is a huge market for Japanese manufacturers. It’s not only pick-up trucks like the Toyota Hilux that are popular, but also large ladder frame SUVs like the Toyota Land Cruiser and Nissan Patrol.

Buyers in the region appreciate their durability, and these vehicles are used to carry anything from large animals to bags of cements, and in the case of terrorist groups – heavy machine guns.

“How did Daesh came to have Japanese pick-ups? It’s because Daesh was born in Iraq, with people who used to be in the Saddam Hussein regime. In Iraq, the Japanese dominate the automobile market. Toyota ranks first, but there’s also Nissan, Mitsubishi and others. How are the vehicles distributed? Toyota’s main base is Saudi Arabia, and the Abdul Latif Jameel Group is one of the best Toyota distributors in the world to the extent that they’ve penetrated markets in Africa. The pick-ups are usually delivered to Dubai, then sent to Iraq. Toyota washes its hands.

“Despite US and international sanctions, Toyota also has a presence in Iran. The Abdul Latif Jameel Group sells vehicles to brokers who officially send them to Africa with a certain number ending up in Iran. Bahwan does the same thing with Renault cars,” Carlos Ghosn said, referring to Omani distributor Suhail Bahwan Automobiles.

“The Americans can’t ignore this, but what’s in it for them? Go after Toyota, a large employer in the United States? And how could Toyota’s complicity be proven? If there was public criticism, it could be very embarrassing for those concerned, especially in Japan, Ghosn remarked.

In other words, the trucks will be delivered from Saudi Arabia to Africa and once the cars are outside of Toyota’s logistical control, brokers in Africa would have these cars delivered to Iran and then to Iraq, where the trucks switched hands once more to the terrorist groups.

Realistically speaking, it’s impossible to expect Toyota, or any other manufacturer to stop the re-selling of any of their products.

When the all-new 2022 Toyota Land Cruiser 300 was launched in Japan, Toyota made buyers sign an agreement that the car would not be resold for at least 12 months. Should the agreement be breached, the buyer will be banned from buying another Toyota.

Also read: Toyota confirms resale restrictions for 2022 Land Cruiser 300 in Japan

On the surface, it would seem that the move is aimed at stopping scalpers from reselling the Land Cruiser 300, which now has a 4-year waiting list (not kidding), from reselling the car to parallel importers in South East Asia, where recond Toyotas are very popular.

But the move is actually also aimed at stopping the Land Cruiser – which is also the No.1 most stolen car in Japan - from falling into the hands of rogue organizations.

It’s a futile effort though, because quite a number of Land Cruiser 300s arrived in Thai and Cambodian recond dealers just 6 months after the cars were launched in Japan.

Also read: Resale restrictions not working? Recond Toyota Land Cruiser 300 now in Thailand

As for the Toyota Hilux, because it sells in such large numbers and is the No.1 selling vehicle in South East Asia, plus one of the most stolen model too, vetting resale activities to filter out brokers working on behalf of rogue organizations is just impossible.

Phillipe Reis’ latest book Broken Alliances is a highly recommended read to anyone who is interested in hearing Carlos Ghosn’s side of the story.

After Ghosn’s ouster, the old guard at Nissan who resumed power swiftly terminated Khaled Juffali Company’s agreement, which the latter sued and won. Nissan has been ordered by the United Arab Emirates court to pay USD 354 million for breach of contract, but Nissan is appealing.

In 2008, at Ghosn’s request for assistance, Khaled Juffali setup Al Dahana FZCO with Lebanese businessman Nasser Watar. Al Dahana FZCO then entered a joint venture with Nissan to establish Nissan Gulf FZCO to oversee distribution in Saudi Arabia, Abu Dhabi, Kuwait, and Bahrain.

“We were not satisfied with our distributor in Saudi Arabia. And we couldn’t get out of this relationship without a local partner. We asked Juffali to help us,” said Ghosn.

“The truth is that Nissan needed him more than he needed Nisssan,” he added, explaining that for his services, Juffali was paid USD 14.7 million dollars - a transaction that the coup plotters at Nissan alleged was an illegal kickback – a payment that was checked by ten people including three members of Nissan’s executive committee.

“The 14.7 million Dollars received by KJC included 11 million Dollars that it had spent on Nissan’s behalf – things like legal services, market research and promotions. The rest was remuneration which was quite reasonable,” said Ghosn.

Before KJC, Nissan’ market share in the Gulf region was a pitiful single digit. By 2019, shortly before the termination of KJC's contract and Ghosn’s ouster, Nissan’s market share there was at 16.9 percent.

Also, it is worth noting that the Talibans in Afghanistan now use Ford Rangers instead of Toyota Hilux, because when the US military pulled out from there, it left behind plenty of second generation Ford Rangers that was formerly used by the US-backed local security forces.

Why go through the hassle of transporting Toyota Hiluxes across 4 countries when Uncle Sam left behind the keys to so many working-condition Ford Rangers?

Also read: No, the Toyota Hilux is no longer a ‘Taliban truck,’ but the Ford Ranger is