By KHRISNA VIRGIL

Tribune Staff Reporter

kvirgil@tribunemedia.net

MORE than $200,000 worth of stolen vehicles, ammunition and electronics were discovered by the Department of Customs and police after an extensive investigation into what is believed to be a major smuggling operation with ties to the United States.

Officials found two 2007 Chevy Camaros, a 2014 Chevy Silverado and a 2015 Chevy Tahoe in addition to more than 1,000 rounds of ammunition and a few electronics inside two containers on Tuesday.

One of the Camaros was licensed in Ohio, USA, police said.

In a separate operation, three luxury cars (a 2011 Mercedes E350 coupe, 2014 Mercedes E350 sedan and a Porsche Cayenne Hybrid SUV) registered in the state of Colorado were also seized. Officials said two of those vehicles were listed on Customs declarations undervalued and the other was smuggled into the country.

Superintendent Stephen Dean said authorities were still investigating and that suspects were expected to face charges in the coming weeks. However, he was evasive when asked if police knew who they were looking for in connection with the seizure.

“(We want) to show the criminal element that there is no escape path,” he said at a press conference yesterday.

“They cannot go through Customs they cannot come through the (Department of) Immigration. All of us work together. We share the same intelligence and we are focused. We will be pursuing those persons involved and I can tell you in the coming weeks you will see a number of persons being arrested. We will not stop until we put a stop to this type of behaviour.”

Customs Comptroller Charles Turner explained that the operation intensified over the last two weeks after months of undercover work. Mr Turner said he did not have information that would point to the involvement of Customs officers in the smuggling ring.

“During the past two weeks,” he said, “the Customs Department conducted a joint operation with the police department with respect to stolen vehicles. As a result of that operation we brought two containers to the Customs house yard where, when we opened the containers, we would have found four vehicles.”

He warned Bahamians against buying cars that have a price that may be too good to be true, adding that the vehicles might have been stolen or the seller might not have paid Customs duty.

“I would want to say to Bahamians who are thinking about buying cars and where the price may appear to be good, be careful because it might be a stolen vehicle where the Customs duty may not have been paid. So if they are in possession of a vehicle where the Customs duty may not have been paid we will seize that vehicle for duty payment and if it is a stolen vehicle they will not get that vehicle back.

“(The public can safeguard themselves by) contacting Customs or the police. We can tell them if the vehicle was stolen or whether the duty has been paid on that vehicle.”