Israel has allowed private companies to use drones to locate stolen cars, providing them capabilities that were till now limited to the security forces, according to a media report.
Ituran, a company that provides tracking and protection services for vehicles has successfully employed drones to locate stolen car in the past few weeks, news web portal Ynet reported.
Drones are now providing the largest stolen car tracking companies in Israel with capabilities that were till now limited to the security forces.
These companies can use drones in locating the stolen cars in orchards and non-residential areas until law enforcement reaches the scene.
They will also employ them to locate stolen vehicles that cross the green line into the Palestinian areas, the report said.
Ituran is said to have recovered a stolen Buick Lacrosse last week from the West Bank town of Tulkarem under the Palestinian Authority.
Company employees reportedly first used the drone to locate the car in the Palestinian city and then traveled there with Israel Defence Forces and loaded the car onto a tow truck.
"Drones constitute an additional force in the war on car theft," Oded Paz, Ituran's head of Operational Systems, told the news portal.
Israel has seen a downward trend in the number of cars stolen since the beginning of this year.
According to police data, 5,400 cars were stolen between January and May, a decrease of 19 per cent compared to the same period in 2015.
