41 vehicles found in St Mary as police uncover major car-stealing ring
ST MARY, Jamaica – Police in St Mary say that up to 41 stolen motor vehicles were found over the weekend as part of a high-level probe into a major car-stealing ring in the parish.
Observer Online understands that the Stolen Motor Vehicles Unit and the Criminal Investigation Branch have been engaged to investigate the case.
Head of the St Mary Police, Superintendent Bobbette Morgan Simpson, said that the ring was uncovered after a report was made about one of the missing cars. She said when the vehicle was tracked, police were led to a site in the Comma Community, where 28 other vehicles were found, most of which were scrapped.
“It so happens that an Axio was stolen in the Oracabessa area and a Mark X was stolen in the Three Hill area…it so happens that the owner of the Axio had a tracking device on the vehicle, so he tracked the vehicle and it led to an area called Comma. The police accompanied him to the location and the Axio was found, as well as the Mark X. The police saw that there were 28 vehicles at one location that were scrapped and they were mostly Axios and other varieties of vehicles there,” she said.
She said further investigations led to another location in Rocky Hill in the parish, where 13 other vehicles were found.
“A further search led us to another location in Rocky Hill where we also saw 13 other vehicles, mainly Axio, and we saw a number of license plates. From our indications…those vehicles were not really old …it’s very sad that persons are investing, spending hard-earned money, borrowing and buying their vehicles, and there are just some people out there waiting to take it away from them,” she said.
Superintendent Morgan Simpson is urging motor vehicle owners to be vigilant and install tracking devices.
“If it wasn’t for the tracking device on this vehicle it is highly unlikely that it would have been found, but because of that piece of technology, the vehicle was recovered and in the process, another vehicle that was stolen was recovered. And we stumbled upon what is evidently a very big stolen motor vehicle ring,” she said.
