Police in Australia that they say were being prepped by criminal organizations for use in violent crimes across the country. , the 20 cars and trucks were classed as “kill cars,” meaning they were stolen cars that were intended to be used in , and then destroyed.

The cars were found scattered across the western in Australia, where they were loaded up with things like “gloves, balaclavas, and even jerry cans filled with fuel,” the Daily Mail reports. According to the site:

‘What we are seeing is the cars being stolen and then put up for sale in WhatsApp groups, and sold to the highest bidder,’ [NSW Police Detective Chief Superintendent Jason Weinstein] told The Daily Telegraph.

‘There is no doubt these vehicles were to be used in carrying out serious violent acts for crimes syndicates.

According to Weinstein, criminals have now started stealing cars like this in advance of the crime in order to kit them out for the acts they’re about to commit. In contrast, he said criminals had, in the past, carried out a crime and from the scene.

According to , police in the area are now on “high alert” as the cars were believed to be prepped for the next “underworld assassination, kidnapping or drive-by shooting.”

The TV station spoke with Terry Goldsworthy, a criminologist and former police officer, who explained that the cars are simply “tools that allow the criminal gangs to take out the opposition.” He added that follows an “escalation” in gang-related shootings across Sydney in recent months.

The operation is part of Australian police’s attempt to “disrupt” that escalation, Goldsworthy explained. Seizing the cars in this way gives police the chance to sweep them for DNA or fingerprint evidence, as once they have been used during a crime they are any evidence police could hope to collect.