Ja: Auto theft ring busted

THE finance ministry's Financial Intelligence Division has cracked a thriving multi-million dollar car stealing ring operating between Jamaica and Miami in the United States, and said to involve big Kingston businessmen.

A senior director of the Financial Intelligence Division (FID) confirmed that the agency has seized 20 of the late model motor vehicles stolen in the United States, cut and exported to Jamaica where they were re-assembled in Kingston garages and sold way below the market prices, depriving the Government of millions of dollars in taxes.

The vehicles include a Chevrolet Escalade, Toyota Tundra, Toyota Tacoma, Mercedes Benz, Lexus, Ford F-150, BMW, Mitsubishi Pajero, Chevrolet Silverado and a Toyota Prado.
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One of the seized vehicles, a 1999 BMW convertible, was shipped to Jamaica as car parts and the person who cleared it paid duties of $33,400. However, Customs duties on that car would be approximately $2.2 million.

One gets the impression that the problem with the auto ring is not its existence but that the sale price of the cars deprived the government of revenue. Amazing.