Police foil attempt to smuggle 12 stolen vehicles
Suspects were trying to cross Al Ghuwaifat checkpoint with cars, trucks
Abu Dhabi: Police have foiled an attempt to smuggle 12 stolen vehicles with forged documents into a neighbouring Arab country.
Colonel Maktoum Ali Al Sharifi, Director of the Abu Dhabi Police Criminal Investigation Department, unveiled the car smuggling crime through which the suspects attempted to smuggle 12 saloon cars and trucks via the Al Ghuwaifat checkpoint.
Investigations revealed that the travel documents had been forged and were not in conformity with the documents handed over to the customs department at the checkpoint.
It was also discovered that 10 Toyota Corolla and Mazda cars were owned by a car rental office in Sharjah whose former Emirati owner had sold it to an Arab man.
It was proven by police that the car rental office is mortgaged by a number of local banks, and that all the documents held by the police had been forged. Police further discovered that the car smuggling plot was carried out by nine people, eight of whom were Arabs, including three truck drivers and an infiltrator.
Released on bail
Police have arrested four as key suspects, while four others — who work at a land transport and shipment company — have been released on bail.
All eight suspects have been referred to judicial authorities, while the police continue their search for the ninth suspect. Upon interrogation with the infiltrator, he confessed that the car rental office was bought for Dh330,000 with the aim of smuggling 16 Mazda and Toyota Corolla cars.
He added that the Arab national paid Dh100,000 in cash, with the rest of the amount to be paid at the beginning of next year.
Denial
Colonel Al Sharifi said the three truck drivers denied involvement in the car smuggling, claiming that a shipment company had supplied them with the stolen vehicles and travel documents — their part was only to tow the vehicles to an Arab country through a GCC neighbouring country.
Colonel Al Sharifi urged the public to report any case of car thefts immediately and thanked car rental agencies for their cooperation. He also thanked customs officials at Al Ghuwaifat checkpoint for their cooperation.
