[bajabill]

Don’t think so. Your typical car thief doesn’t even carry a gun as they know a simple car theft charge is much easier to walk away from with little to no prison time but if caught with a gun in the theft the time served usually goes way up. I agree with others who think they are either cartel or a well organized gang that was taking the van to commit another crime.

Are old VW vans relatively easy to hotwire? I honestly don’t know.