Father and son could be jailed at same time for running stolen car rings in Christchurch, Wellington
Friday, 12 June 2026
Car wrecker Abdul Karim Alizadah (Ahmadi) drove a flash car, lived in a cushy home and bought expensive jewellery while running a stolen car ring in Christchurch that eventually landed him in prison. Now, The Press can reveal that his son ran a joint operation in Wellington, and that he too faces time behind bars. Jake Kenny reports.
A car wrecker who owns a $350,000 Mercedes and $1.3 million home ran a lucrative stolen car ring across two cities with an associate, who The Press can now reveal was his son.
Abdul Karim Alizadah, who also goes by the surname Ahmadi, regularly flaunted the fruits of his illicit side hustle while running a wrecking yard in an industrial part of Christchurch that cut down stolen cars and sent the parts overseas to be sold.
He drove his flashy car, wore expensive watches and bought gold jewellery for his wife after the exports began, almost always paying with cash. Meanwhile, his son Jahangir Alizada ran a similar operation out of Wellington, keeping tabs on the exports using a burner phone taped to a toilet cistern in his yard’s office block.
Tucked in a maze of quiet side streets, Lion Auto Dismantlers was spread across two large sections near the foot of Christchurch’s Port Hills. Its 2.4m high fences obstructed a large yard laden with shipping containers and, crucially, the inside of the warehouse - the beating heart of a more covert operation.
It was there that Ahmadi oversaw the late-night delivery of stolen cars - in one case a tranche of brand new Toyota SUVs worth more than $100,000 each - that were then cut down, and the parts shipped off to the United Arab Emirates to a pre-arranged buyer.
At the same time, across two sections on Montgomery Crescent in Clouston Park, Upper Hutt, his son too ran a legitimate wrecking business by day, and a stolen car part exporter by night.
Between them, the yards received more than 100 stolen cars in less than a year.
Dad was not shy in spending the fruits of his criminal enterprise. Registered to Lion Auto Dismantlers was a 2023 Mercedes-AMG G63 worth $350,000, registration ALIZDA.
In September 2024, police and Customs descended on the yards and arrested the pair.
Police later applied, successfully, for a restraining order over a vehicle, real estate, shares, cash, jewellery and watches.
Lion Auto Dismantlers was closed when The Press visited in the same week its assets were restrained. The Mercedes was parked in the driveway of Ahmadi’s $1.3m Wigram home. Two of his relatives answered the door and said he wasn’t there. One of them threatened and filmed this journalist.
“We’ve got people as well,” he said.
“If I see anything up on media, it won’t be good. I’ve got your photo as well.”
Later that day, two men who answered Ahmadi’s phone identified themselves as him.
They said they did not recognise that any of the cars were stolen when they received them.
One threatened legal action.
“We’ll be coming after you,” he said.
Ahmadi pleaded guilty to 18 charges of receiving stolen property worth more than $1000 at the Christchurch District Court in July last year. He admitted two other charges - failing to keep a proper secondhand dealer’s record and failing to keep articles in an unaltered state - related to the fake names and car models he entered when stolen cars came through his gates.
His wife cried inconsolably at the back of court as he was sentenced to three years and three months imprisonment in November.
Ten stolen car victims provided statements to the court to outline the harm the thefts caused - including one whose car was being used as regular transport for a wheelchair bound relative.
“The scale is almost unmatched in this type of case,” prosecutor Will Taffs said at the time.
“We’re looking at a staggering loss.”
After it was transferred from Wellington to Christchurch, Jahangir Alizada’s case progressed slower, and on Friday he too pleaded guilty to his role in the operation.
His interim name suppression was also lifted, allowing The Press to reveal his identity and details related to the Upper Hutt yard he ran.
He was remanded on bail and will be sentenced in September.
While the father and son’s stolen car ring was in full flow, they held a property portfolio worth more than $3m.
Since Ahmadi’s jail term was imposed, the land occupied by the Upper Hutt wrecking yard was approved by the High Court for mortgagee sale by the police. The land has a rateable value of $1.8m
More than $479,000 was said to have been contributed to the mortgages of the Wellington properties using tainted funds from the Middle East.