DSI seizes three more stolen vehicles
Cars found on cargo ship ready to leave
The Department of Special Investigation (DSI) has seized three more cars after the agency found they are among 42 luxury cars that were allegedly stolen in Britain and smuggled into Thailand.
This brings the total number of stolen luxury cars found in Thailand to 13 as the probe into imports of the high-value vehicles expands.
A DSI team of special case investigators yesterday visited the duty-free zone of the Customs Department in Lat Krabang district to inspect the three cars after the department alerted them about the discovery of the vehicles believed to have been stolen in Britain, said DSI deputy chief Korrawat Panprapakorn.
They are a black Mercedes-Benz GLE305 D, a white Mercedes-Benz AMG C63 and a white Nissan GTR.
The seized cars were found on board a cargo ship that was about to leave the port, when it was stopped for inspection by the authorities, he said.
A source said some people were attempting to smuggle the cars out of Thailand to avoid having them impounded for inspection as it could reveal the use of fake invoices to falsely declare the prices of the cars.
Customs Department’s deputy directorgeneral Chaiyut Kumkun said authorities found two luxury cars believed to have been stolen from the UK and smuggled into Thailand were re-exported earlier this month to Hong Kong.
They were re-exported upon request by a company that had submitted the proper re-export documents.
The department is working on having the two cars returned to Thailand. They are expected to arrive in July.
At the time the department approved the re-export request for these cars, officials did not have information indicating they were stolen vehicles, he said.
Justice Minister Suwaphan Tanyuvardhana, meanwhile, said the DSI was now working together with British authorities for more information about the stolen cars.
The DSI said earlier the British National Vehicle Crime Intelligence Service (NaVCIS) had informed Thai authorities that 42 luxury cars were stolen in Britain and shipped to Thailand.
It sought help from Thai authorities in locating the vehicles.
The agency also impounded 160 supercars at showrooms in Bangkok on May 18 and last Wednesday, as their declared prices were unrealistically low.
It later found this amounted to three billion baht in lost taxes.
The DSI is working closely with authorities in Italy, from where the cars were allegedly imported, to sort out the issue.
On Monday, the Office of the Auditor-General (OAG) said it had asked the Customs Department to launch a probe against nine of its officials whom the OAG found were involved in the illegitimate return of 19.88 million baht to Jubilee Line and Niche Cars Group.
Customs Department director-general Kulit Sombasiri said the OAG request is a different case from the tax avoidance scandal being investigated by the DSI.
He said the OAG request concerns the return of the surety pledged by the two companies for removing luxury cars that were impounded by the department.
The cars were seized when customs authorities suspected their taxes were falsely declared. The department will take 90 days to investigate the case as requested by the OAG.