MORE PICS - RM2 Million Stolen Luxury Cars (BMWs & Mercedes) Recovered Port Klang; RM1.5 Mln Recovered Cars in 2005 from Hong Kong Shipping Back

ABOVE & BELOW: the syndicate is interested only in the BMW & Mercedes Benz models which are in demand in the affluent market of Hong Kong & China

Police have crippled a syndicate smuggling stolen luxury cars into Hong Kong with the seizures of 8 such cars at Port Klang on Monday.

ABOVE: Black BMWs models are a favorite target for stolen "export"

The cars were of the Mercedes and BMW models worth RM2 million. Police have sought the assistance of their counterparts in Hong Kong for assistance in investigations. The cars have been stolen around the Klang Valley. It was learnt the Hong Kong agents have already secured buyers for these stolen vehicle. Hong Kong Police have already nabbed the culprits and are about to be charged there. The cars would be handed back to the original owners once police investigations have been completed.

ABOVE: Luxury big cars have luxury interiors (BELOW)

Meanwhile stolen luxury cars in 2005 and recovered in Hong Kong are on the way home.

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ABOVE: Final inspection before being transported back (BELOW) by trailer to the Police Hq Depot in KL

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Stolen cars to be shipped back from HK

16 Mar 2007; NST

KUALA LUMPUR: After a two-year probe and much backroom negotiations, luxury cars worth more than RM1.5 million that were stolen here and recovered in Hong Kong are on their way back. The cars including BMWs and Mercedes Benz are expected to arrive over the weekend. This follows a concerted effort by a team led by Deputy Criminal Investigation Department director Datuk Syed Ismail Syed Azizan that met insurers, police and Customs officials in the former British colony. Negotiations in the matter which saw cars stolen here, taken to Singapore and then shipped to Hong Kong for what is believed to be eventual sale in China ended last week. It is understood that the cars were meant for the increasingly affluent market in southern China.

The vehicles were recovered in Hong Kong in 2005. Investigators learnt that forged importation and Customs clearance documents were used to facilitate the transshipment of the stolen vehicles. This recovery has once again reaffirmed the belief among Malaysian police that car theft-cum-smuggling syndicates had their sights on newly-emerging economies. Industry sources said the recovery of the cars posed the question of what would happen now to the vehicles. This is because the owners have had their insurance policies honoured by insurance companies. "These were vehicles which were stolen more than two years ago. Now additional costs have been incurred for the repairs, freight and shipping costs which have been borne by insurers," an industry official said. It is learnt that the authorities are trying to secure the return of stolen Malaysian vehicles recovered in Dubai.

Meanwhile, General Insurance Association of Malaysia (PIAM) executive director Lim Chia Fook said Malaysian police had recovered stolen vehicles in Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, South Africa, Hong Kong and Dubai. "We (however) do not have information on how many of these stolen vehicles have been smuggled out of the country," he said. PIAM believes greater government-to-government co- operation was needed to overcome hurdles in cross-border criminal activities. "This co-operation is essential in investigating, identifying and recovering stolen vehicles which have been taken out of the country." Statistics show that 82,287 vehicles were reported stolen here last year. Malaysian police and their Interpol counterparts are actively involved in investigations to recover, identify and repatriate the stolen vehicles to their country of origin.