The police in Montego Bay have stumbled on what they have described as an ingenious car-stealing ring, which they say was being used by gangs to commit other serious crimes in St. James.
By Roy SanfordThe ring was uncovered in a series of arrests by the police, which occurred from Friday night to Saturday night.
In custody are Storett Park, who the police described as the mastermind of the operations; Andrew Boyne, also known as 'Pepper'; Delano Lee, of Lilliput, St. James; and Devroy 'Chucky' Chang.
NUMBER-ALTERING MACHINE
According to Detective Sergeant Paul Bernard of the Montego Bay Criminal Investigation Branch, the gang would either steal or purchase a vehicle that was involved in an accident for the sole purpose of obtaining the documents.
"After the documents are obtained, they would use a special machine to alter the numbers on the documents and stolen vehicles then those documents are sold at a cheap rate," he explained.
He said the police became suspicious when Mr. Park, who is from Alexandria, St. Ann, and who is wanted by the police in that parish, was stopped and searched by the police. "He was in possession of that number-altering machine and we began investigating further," Detective Sergeant Bernard said.
VEHICLES SOLD CHEAPLY
He said that during the investigation, seven vehicles were recovered, some from Hopewell, Hanover and others from Linstead, St. Catherine. "That gang did not operate only in Montego Bay or St. James," the detective said.
Detective Sergeant Bernard said that after the numbers on the vehicles' documents were altered, the stolen vehicles were sold by gang members in Montego Bay at a relatively cheap rate and some used to commit vicious crimes in the city. "Some of these crimes include drive-by shootings," he said.
He said that in addition to stealing vehicles, the gang obtained licence plates from crashed vehicles and used them. He said the gang specialised in stealing Toyota Corollas.
