Stolen motorcycles recovered en route to Bolivia
Baltimore Customs and Border Protection officers helped put an end to a motorcycle theft ring and recovered eight motorcycles stolen from Maryland and Virginia. The last two motorcycles -- a 2006 Suzuki GSX-R750 reported stolen from Montgomery County, Md., and a 2007 Suzuki GSX-R600 reported stolen from Prince William County, Va., -- were recovered from a shipping container on Monday that was en route to Bolivia.
The recoveries were part of an ongoing Fairfax County, Va., Police and CBP investigation into an auto theft ring that disassembled motorcycles and smuggled them out of the country in salvage vehicles exported in shipping containers.
Fairfax County Police made three arrests.
"This is an extraordinary example of a federal-state law enforcement partnership that ended a significant theft ring of late model motorcycles," said Stephen Dearborn, CBP Acting Port Director for the Port of Baltimore. "Fairfax County auto theft detectives did a phenomenal job breaking this theft ring and we are pleased to help bring these cases to a successful resolution."
Fairfax County auto theft officers approached CBP in September for help in identifying a shipping container that may contain motorcycles stolen from Fairfax County.
CBP officers located and devanned the container on Sept. 15, and discovered a 2009 Harley Davidson Night Train and a 2007 Kawasaki ZX660J which were disassembled and hidden inside boxes or wrapped in blankets and tucked inside four salvage vehicles. Salvage vehicles are vehicles purchased usually at auction for their parts value.
CBP turned the motorcycles over to Fairfax County officers and seized the salvage vehicles for facilitating the smuggling of stolen motorcycles.
During the course of identifying the targeted shipping container, CBP officers searched law enforcement databases and discovered three additional containers manifested similarly to the targeted container. Those three containers were already aboard two ships heading to Bolivia.
"Our officer exercised dogged intuition to look beyond the one container we targeted to find the additional stolen motorcycles," said Dearborn. "Technology is a vital tool to help CBP retain awareness of people and consumer goods coming to and departing the United States, and helps us to protect our nation and citizens against potential threats."
CBP ordered the three containers to be redelivered to the Baltimore seaport.
The first two arrived on Oct. 20. One container was devanned then, and the second container was devanned the following day.
The first two arrived on Oct. 20. One container was devanned then, and the second container was devanned the following day. Inside each container were two motorcycles, disassembled and concealed similarly inside salvage vehicles. The four motorcycles included a 2007 Harley Davidson FXDB and a 2007 Honda CBR600 that were reported stolen from Fairfax County, and a 2007 Harley Davidson XL883 and a 2008 Suzuki GSX-R600 reported stolen from Prince William County, Va.
The latest container was redelivered to Baltimore on Monday, devanned, and revealed the two Suzuki motorcycles concealed inside four salvage vehicles.
Each container was devanned at the CBP shed at Dundalk Marine Terminal. The motorcycles' frames and engines remained basically intact, and were discovered wrapped in blankets inside one vehicle. The remaining parts were packaged inside boxes.
The Baltimore seaport is one of the nation's busiest at importing and exporting new and used cars, trucks, boats, recreational vehicles and farm equipment. CBP officers at the Baltimore seaport are charged with verifying that import and export documents are complete, and that the commodity is accurately reflected on the documents.
CBP officers have recovered 18 stolen vehicles during fiscal year 2009, and seven so far this fiscal year.