by Jerome Pinder
The following headline appeared in The Tribune on the 26th April 2010: "Man turns himself in after seizure of vehicle parts." According to the report the police searched a house and found doors, windshields, head lights, air conditioning units, fenders, rims, bumpers, etc…… It seems the main body parts were there and they were stored from the ceiling, to the backyard, all the way to a nearby abandoned house.
So what is it with all the stolen cars? We live on a small island, so its not like you can steal a car and drive across state lines. We know some cars are stolen for drive by shootings, others for robberies, and some for drug deals.
But why such a demand for stripping down cars to get parts? We have heard for a long time about car theft rings, and to date, its amazing that such rackets cannot be broken on a small island.
Are individuals purchasing these "hot" items to repair and fix their personal vehicles?
Are car parts being stolen to fix and repair all the wrecked vehicles being imported. And if there is a link, why is the Government allowing such a large volume of wrecked vehicles to be imported in the first place? There is no protection for an innocent buyer purchasing a car in the Bahamas that was considered a write off in another jurisdiction.
Surely we can get to the bottom of this, what do you think?
Auto theft and black market used auto parts sales are the domain of the police. Cops are also behind the many cheap Jags that were imported without paying customs duties. The reason the parts ring isn’t busted is because cops are the people controlling that activity.
I agree with Barracuda, how can the police not know whats going on ? To me its just like the numbers racket, they have to know when, where & how.If they have no idea about this at all, then they truly are doing a piss poor job.
In cases like this, it’s almost always either the police are involved, or the crime syndicates moving the car parts around are able to pay the police enough for the latter to put a blind eye on the former’s activities.