SAO PAULO – A Gang which stole and modified luxury cars, offering for resale U.S. $100,000 vehicles for as low as $8,000 has been broken up in São Paulo, police said. The police operation resulted in the arrest of 11 of the 14 gang members identified during the operation, reported O Globo.
Luxury Cars (photo: gpluxuryrental.com)
According to police spokesman Andre Barazal, some cars were sold in other states. He also suspects that some of the vehicles were traded for drugs and weapons in Paraguay. At least 15 cars were recovered, including BMW, Honda and Land Rover brands.
The investigation took at least three months and included legally authorized wiretaps.
According to police, one of the arrested, Roni Otávio Xavier, specialized in modifying license plates and VIN numbers. He enjoyed playing golf and riding a jet ski. Another of the arrested, Caio Assumpção, who was responsible for falsifying documents, was caught with a case of luxury perfume when taken into custody. Also arrested was Paulo Rogério Amaral who had a home shop with all the tools needed for his trade: sanders, drills and chemicals used to modify the vehicle ID numbers.
The gang operated like a business, the spokesman said. Buyers ordered the car they wanted just like you might do a dealership. The theft was subcontracted out to another division of the gang. Another division was responsible for altering the plates, VIN and documents and yet another division would make the final delivery.
Since the beginning of 2011, more than 105,000 vehicles have been stolen in the state of São Paulo.
Read also: More Articles from Brazil Dispatch
Brazilian online news source for this article: O Globo
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