Police seize over 100 cars

[Admin]

Police seize over 100 cars
Published: 28/05/2011 at 12:00 AM
Bangkok Post: Newspaper section: News
 
Police have recently confiscated more than 100 cars, for which the owners had allegedly avoided paying customs and duties or because they were stolen in another country.

Raphiphat Palawong, director of the Royal Thai Police's cars and motorcycles crime centre, said that 51 of the vehicles had been involved in customs tax evasion cases, 25 were involved in import duty evasion and 24 were stolen from Malaysia.

He said the cars had been smuggled into the country by various means.

Sometimes smugglers brought parts of used cars into the country to avoid import duties before reassembling and selling them to Thai customers. The most popular sources of smuggled auto parts were Malaysia and Japan, Pol Lt Gen Raphiphat said.

There are 12 border checkpoints in the South, but most cars and parts are smuggled through a checkpoint in Sadao district of Songkhla, said Pol Lt Gen Raphiphat .

He said in some cases, customs officers had found entire cars that had been brought illegally into the country in shipping containers.

Many parts were eventually assembled in garages in the Lat Krabang district of Bangkok as well as areas near the Laem Chabang deep-sea port in Chon Buri.