Tweet
Car-stealing racket pushing local crime
By Kimmo Matthews
Staff Reporter
It is certainly not the first time that authorities are connecting the car-stealing ring island-wide with the spate of murders rocking sections of the island. However, the rise in gruesome killings, the many reports of kidnappings and massive gun finds in recent times, have left local police concerned about the deep connections their investigations continue to reveal about the billion-dollar car-stealing racket and the rising crime levels.
As a result, the police say drastic measures have to be taken to clamp down on the illegal car-stealing operations.
“Put a temporary halt to the industry, in other words, lock it down!” said a concerned head of the Police Flying Squad, Deputy Superintendent Cornwall “Bigga” Ford, in a recent interview.
“When I say temporarily close it down, I mean everything, the used car dealer trade, the importation of vehicles, everything,” Ford stressed.
“This is what has to be done and new measures implemented to properly regulate the business. It may sound harsh, but this is something which cannot wait any longer,” Ford said. He said the government needed to do something similar to what was recently done in the scrap metal business.
Police said since the importation of low-priced Chinese and Japanese vehicles and auto parts was introduced to the local automobile business, the vehicle trade has steadily been blossoming and in doing so, has attracted members from the criminal underworld.
The police said that the more popular vehicles, including Toyota Corolla, Honda, and Hiace brand vehicles, generally make up the types of vehicles were being targeted by the criminals, who sometimes stopped at nothing to get what they wanted.
The police said that based on conservative calculations, it was believed that close to 10,000 vehicles have been stolen in Jamaica over the past five years.
The masterminds behind these rackets, the police said, were highly educated individuals, aided by police officers, bank operators, tax workers, all categories of persons which made up the list of persons arrested in the money-making car-stealing rackets which spanned the island.
“People are being murdered left, right and centre, kidnappings are being carried out all over the island, because of the car-stealing racket that has blossomed into a billion dollar underground operation,” Fords said.
“Criminals are taking this illegal thing to the next level, they are highly sophisticated, criminals are even now targeting the tax offices and when the people in these buildings access important files, they (the criminals) are able capture those information on their laptops on the outside,” an irate DSP Ford continued.
“So bad has the situation become that the police have to be working round the clock to keep clamping down on these criminals. What many people do not understand is that this problem does not just stop within the shores of Jamaica.
“Criminals are going overseas, stealing high-end vehicles and bringing them back to Jamaica to sell in established car places,” Ford continued.
“Established car dealer companies are also buying these vehicles. I know of an incident where an individual’s vehicle was stolen and that individual was able to repurchase the parts from the vehicle that was stolen in an established car parts dealership,” he said.
The senior cop said lack of co-operation among various authorities, agencies and individuals, such as the police, insurance companies and the vehicle owners, was also creating a major problem.
“We are facing a number of major hurdles in carrying out our job,” an official from the Organised Crime Investigation Division (OCID) told the Sunday Herald. The officer said because of the rise in motor vehicle theft, police stations were running out of space to store the recovered vehicles. Ford said many of the recovered vehicles now had to be parked on the streets beside many police stations.
GO BACK
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
By Kimmo Matthews
Staff Reporter
It is certainly not the first time that authorities are connecting the car-stealing ring island-wide with the spate of murders rocking sections of the island. However, the rise in gruesome killings, the many reports of kidnappings and massive gun finds in recent times, have left local police concerned about the deep connections their investigations continue to reveal about the billion-dollar car-stealing racket and the rising crime levels.
As a result, the police say drastic measures have to be taken to clamp down on the illegal car-stealing operations.
“Put a temporary halt to the industry, in other words, lock it down!” said a concerned head of the Police Flying Squad, Deputy Superintendent Cornwall “Bigga” Ford, in a recent interview.
“When I say temporarily close it down, I mean everything, the used car dealer trade, the importation of vehicles, everything,” Ford stressed.
“This is what has to be done and new measures implemented to properly regulate the business. It may sound harsh, but this is something which cannot wait any longer,” Ford said. He said the government needed to do something similar to what was recently done in the scrap metal business.
Police said since the importation of low-priced Chinese and Japanese vehicles and auto parts was introduced to the local automobile business, the vehicle trade has steadily been blossoming and in doing so, has attracted members from the criminal underworld.
The police said that the more popular vehicles, including Toyota Corolla, Honda, and Hiace brand vehicles, generally make up the types of vehicles were being targeted by the criminals, who sometimes stopped at nothing to get what they wanted.
The police said that based on conservative calculations, it was believed that close to 10,000 vehicles have been stolen in Jamaica over the past five years.
The masterminds behind these rackets, the police said, were highly educated individuals, aided by police officers, bank operators, tax workers, all categories of persons which made up the list of persons arrested in the money-making car-stealing rackets which spanned the island.
“People are being murdered left, right and centre, kidnappings are being carried out all over the island, because of the car-stealing racket that has blossomed into a billion dollar underground operation,” Fords said.
“Criminals are taking this illegal thing to the next level, they are highly sophisticated, criminals are even now targeting the tax offices and when the people in these buildings access important files, they (the criminals) are able capture those information on their laptops on the outside,” an irate DSP Ford continued.
“So bad has the situation become that the police have to be working round the clock to keep clamping down on these criminals. What many people do not understand is that this problem does not just stop within the shores of Jamaica.
“Criminals are going overseas, stealing high-end vehicles and bringing them back to Jamaica to sell in established car places,” Ford continued.
“Established car dealer companies are also buying these vehicles. I know of an incident where an individual’s vehicle was stolen and that individual was able to repurchase the parts from the vehicle that was stolen in an established car parts dealership,” he said.
The senior cop said lack of co-operation among various authorities, agencies and individuals, such as the police, insurance companies and the vehicle owners, was also creating a major problem.
“We are facing a number of major hurdles in carrying out our job,” an official from the Organised Crime Investigation Division (OCID) told the Sunday Herald. The officer said because of the rise in motor vehicle theft, police stations were running out of space to store the recovered vehicles. Ford said many of the recovered vehicles now had to be parked on the streets beside many police stations.
GO BACK
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Comment