Toronto's out-of-control car theft epidemic is making international headlines, as the city is being painted as a lawless haven for criminals and a key point in the global auto theft trade in a new feature in the New York Times.

Locals are no strangers to Toronto's plague of auto theft. Skyrocketing theft statistics, huge busts nabbing shipping containers full of luxury vehicles, and daring high-tech heists are all old news to anyone who has been following headlines in the GTA for the past two years.

However, the problem is now bad enough that our neighbours to the south are taking notice.

The New York Times published an article about the city's auto theft problem on Saturday, titled "For Car Thieves, Toronto Is a 'Candy Store,' and Drivers Are Fed Up."

An epidemic of auto thefts in Toronto has left many residents exasperated, with some getting creative about deterrence efforts, such as installing bollards in home driveways. https://t.co/440i4ddzw6

— New York Times World (@nytimesworld) February 24, 2024

The article covers the arms race between thieves and car owners, and the increasing lengths motorists are willing to go to protect their vehicles from ending up in a shipping container bound for foreign markets.

One Toronto resident, Dennis Wilson, told the Times that he has to set aside an extra 15 minutes in his commutes to account for his many security measures, which include two car alarms, a tracking device, four Apple AirTags, motion-sensitive floodlights and a key fob kept in a hack-proof Faraday bag.

People unfamiliar with Toronto's reputation as a Wild West for car theft seemed shocked to learn about the many layers of security measures — like steering wheel locks and even retractable driveway bollards — drivers are implementing to deter theft.

This is one of the wildest things in the article pic.twitter.com/iyqgNEtMCu

— Pedro Porto Alegre (@PedroPAlegre) February 26, 2024

Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown chimed in on the local issue gaining international attention, pressuring officials to "secure our ports and intermodal hubs" through additional funding for the Canada Border Services Agency.

U.S media is now talking about Canada’s vulnerability on auto thefts. The @nytimes is featuring the crisis in Toronto but the crisis isn’t limited to Toronto. Auto thefts are skyrocketing across Ontario and Quebec. It won’t be slowed down until we secure our ports and intermodal… pic.twitter.com/xvYeFMjvxI

— Patrick Brown (@patrickbrownont) February 24, 2024

In 2015, the publication slammed locals for their apparent apathy towards the $2.5 billion investment in the Pan Am Games. Four years later, Toronto locals were outraged by the publication's claim that Drake put Toronto on the map.

Toronto once again was put in a negative spotlight by the New York Times in 2022, when the paper wrote about conditions faced by travellers at Pearson Airport.

It's not always negative press from the Times, though, as an editor at the publication showed love for Toronto's turkey-shaped Robarts Library in late 2022.