Police disrupt Old Harbour car stealing ring, one person charged

An unusual high amount of vehicles were stolen in the Old Harbour space between the months of March and April of this year, with some vehicles yet to be recovered. However, DSP Damion Manderson, commander in charge of the Old Harbour sub-division, said investigators have unravelled a broad network spanning the police divisions of St Catherine North, St Catherine South and St Andrew North.

And whilst there's no evidence yet connecting this week's bust of another car stealing ring in Mocho, Clarendon, the DSP said the police are not ruling out anything yet.

With regards to the illicit activity in Old Harbour, DSP Manderson noted other persons were apprehended in other divisions and is of the view that the syndicated ring has been disrupted.

Citizens are once again being urged to take the necessary proactive steps to secure their motor vehicles and be more vigilant.

“Over the past two months or a month and a half. We would have recovered about seven cars, we would have taken into custody no less than five individuals, at least one person would have been so charged. There are others who would have been possibly charged in other divisions,” DSP Manderson said in an Old Harbour News exclusive interview. 

“The network that would have been working has connection both in the Old Harbour space, St Catherine North, especially the Kitson Town side, Spanish Town and St Andrew North, and so you find a lot of exchange going on where vehicles are stolen in Old Harbour and they are taken to either Kitson Town or up St Catherine North side or vice versa. For example one (Toyota) Axio that was found in the Old Harbour area was stolen about two hours before from in St Andrew North.”

“We are also seeing the housing scheme, particularly the gated communities being featured, where persons steal the vehicles from outside and because these are schemes not dominantly patrol by police…” added DSP Manderson, who is also a senior member of the National Intelligence Bureau (NIB). “These are vehicles that are parked nice and neat on people’s front lawn, or in other instances two of the vehicles were parked along the roadway, and nobody could have accounted for them, and that is deliberate we believe and we believe the persons who brought them there probably live close by.”

Despite the success, the top police chief who took up the mantle at Old Harbour less than six months ago, is also of the view that other similar groups exists based on intelligence.

“Over the past two months we would have only received one report of a car stealing. This was a (Toyota) Probox in Juici Plaza parking lot,” he said, noting that their intelligence is suggesting that this is another emerging group as the previous ring targeted more high-end vehicles.

Car stealing is a very lucrative trade for the criminal underworld. In some instances vehicles are disassembled and the parts sold as scrap, while depending on group’s capacity vehicles are resold using fraudulent documents.

“Car stealing cannot be done by any single individual because when you consider what is involved you are talking about you need an expert technician. You need a mechanic. You need somebody at the tax office. You need somebody at Island Traffic (Authority). In other words, you need a network of individuals to successfully steal a vehicle, whether you choose to scrap it or you choose to stamp and replace it,” DSP Manderson contends.