The U.S. government is trying to figure out how the Islamic State managed to get their hands on hundreds of pick-up trucks made by Toyota.
The U.S. Treasury is currently looking for information from the Japanese automaker about the matter, indicating that it is taking the necessary steps to protect its supply chain integrity in the Middle East, according to CNN.
Toyota is confused as well, saying in a statement that the case is part of a broader investigation about how the terrorist group is able to obtain vehicles from other countries.
Ed Lewis, spokesman for Toyota, said that the company is "committed to complying fully with the laws and regulations of each country or region where we operate and require our dealers and distributors to do the same. We are supporting the U.S. Treasury Department's broader inquiry into international supply chains and the flow of capital and goods in the Middle East."
Toyota's Hilux pick-ups, the overseas version of the Tacoma, have appeared in ISIS's videos in Iraq, Syria and Libya, loaded with heavy weapons while the group patrols streets, ABC News reported. The models shown in the group's propaganda video appear to be older and new white pick-ups and bear the black caliphate seal.
Lukman Faily, the Iraqi Ambassador to the U.S., said that his government believes that ISIS is not only repurposing older trucks, but also bought "hundreds" of "brand new" Toyotas in recent years.
"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?"
Lewis said that automakers have no way to completely control how vehicles could be misappropriated or stolen, CNN reported.
"Toyota has a strict policy to not sell vehicles to potential purchasers who may use or modify them for paramilitary or terrorist activities, and we have procedures and contractual commitments in place to help prevent our products from being diverted for unauthorized military use," he said, adding that most of the Toyota vehicles in the ISIS videos aren't sold in the U.S.
While the Treasury Department has yet to comment on which companies it is looking for information from, it did say that it is involved in an ongoing effort to understand how ISIS gets its funds.
"In line with our casual approach to understanding ISIL's financial and economic activities, we are working closely with foreign counterparts and stakeholders worldwide," the Treasury Department said in a statement.
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