Gone in 60 seconds: Stolen high-end cars at the Port of L.A.!
Instead of the “used fitness equipment” described on the label, U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers discovered the containers at the Port of Los Angeles held a 2010 Ferrari 458 Italia valued at $280,000 and 15 other stolen high-end vehicles. The expensive cars were being shipped to Hong Kong and Vietnam!
The L.A. Times article says that:
“Four other expensive cars had already been shipped to Vietnam and the U.S. is working with Vietnamese customs officials to have them returned to this country, said Jaime Ruiz, a spokesman for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.”
The vehicles were recovered after a car rental company noticed that a GPS device in a rented 2010 Ferrari showed that the vehicle was at the harbor and that it was not moving! When agents opened the container containing the Ferrari, they decided to check OTHER containers that listed contents of “used fitness equipment” and found the other vehicles. The total value of the recovered vehicles was estimated at $1.5 million, but the prices of the cars typically DOUBLE when they are resold in Asia!
Smugglers stole the cars after leasing or purchasing them using false identities. Local dealerships, banks, and insurance companies were defrauded. The investigation is continuing, according to Ruiz, but no arrests have been made, yet. California Highway Patrol (CHP) will be given the recovered vehicles to return to their owners.
Last year, at the Los Angeles/Long Beach Seaport, officials seized 61 vehicles and 49 engines, with a value of $1.8 million, from outbound containers. Two dozen of the vehicles had been reported stolen.
I looks like the seaport is already off to a VERY good year!
-Bill at
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