Grand theft auto

As of the end of October, over half a billion dollars worth of motor vehicles have been reported stolen in St Andrew North, raising serious concerns in the area.

The alarming trend not only enriches organised criminal networks, but also burdens investigators with increasing caseloads.

According to the police, these criminals – operating either independently or as part of syndicates – utilise advanced technology to carry out their operations even in gated communities, with one of the latest incidents occurring just days ago.

Deputy Superintendent (DSP) Dalian Clarke, who oversees operations in the division, noted that vehicle theft has long been a persistent issue.

Between Sunday and Wednesday this week, three vehicles were reported stolen, with only one recovered so far.

One victim is offering a $300,000 reward for information leading to the recovery of his Nissan pick-up.

“Since the start of the year, we have had 119 cases reported to us. For the entire year 2022, it was 113, and we put some strategies in place, and it was reduced to 90 last year. Now at the end of October, we have 119,” Clarke told The Gleaner.

He said that although the police have “implemented strategies and done public education to create target hardening so that persons may put safety devices on their vehicles such as trackers”, the trend continues unabated even when persons believed to be the masterminds have been arrested and charged.

“We have made checks with the Inland Revenue Department to see if some of these vehicles are being relicensed. So far, we have only found one, and that is still under investigation,” Clarke said.

To tackle this issue, the police are collaborating with the Insurance Association of Jamaica to better understand the scale of the problem among stakeholders.

“Our analysis has broken it down to insurance companies that are at a loss. We feel that it is organised based on all the intelligence that we have and motor vehicles that are stolen in this division are not being located in this division,” Clarke said.

The Gleaner understands that a Volkswagen Amarock pick-up stolen in Stony Hill, St Andrew, this year was recovered in St James.

St Andrew North divisional commander DSP Randy Sweeney told The Gleaner that the main recovery locations are St Andrew South and St Catherine.

“The dollar value in stolen motor vehicles is being worked on, but I estimate it to be over $600 million, and I am being conservative. A lot of these vehicles are high-end vehicles – the [Toyota] Mark X, Subaru, Honda, and [Toyota] Crown,” Sweeney said.

The police believe that regulating the used auto parts industry could help mitigate the problem.

Sweeney told The Gleaner that the Constant Spring police area accounts for 100 of the 119 vehicles stolen within the division – “especially in the Havendale, Meadowbrook, and Manning’s Hill Road area”.

He said: “Vehicles are predominantly stolen parked along the street and in the yard mainly between the hours of 10 p.m. and 4 a.m. … The dormitory communities account for most cases. We have a few that have been stolen from the clubs.”

With no model deemed safe from theft, police have caught criminals with lists of vehicles they target. Investigators revealed that devices as small as a pencil eraser are being used to track potential thefts. There are also ongoing investigations into codes for Mark X vehicles, which thieves can exploit to access and quickly steal these cars.

While he is not aware of the use of this technology in his division, Sweeney urged the public to take proactive measures to protect their vehicles.

“While you employ trackers from companies, you can also have your local tracking system because you can never know. Some of these people can be working from inside. You still can have traditional methods like your steering locks, which, maybe, can [lengthen] the time used to steal, and an alarm can be made,” he suggested.

He also encouraged smartphone users to utilise tracking technologies such as Apple AirTags or Android SmartTags.

Emphasising the financial investment people make in their vehicles, Sweeney noted that a stolen 2023 Land Cruiser is valued at over $20 million.

“One of the things we also observe is that it’s not one or two syndicates that are involved. While there are networks of persons external to the division, we believe that there are multiple persons who are otherwise involved ... . It’s not like you can arrest one person and we have a serious dent. We have seen where several persons were arrested and yet still it continues,” Sweeney told The Gleaner.

The St Andrew North police have made 18 arrests related to vehicle thefts so far this year compared to 13 last year.

DSP Glendale Ruddock, in charge of crime, pointed out that these cases often take time to resolve in court and that the demographics of the players vary.

“Based on our analysis, persons participate in various roles in the stolen motor vehicle ring. You may have persons who spot out the car, and you have persons who come and steal the car. There is more than one way in which cars are being disposed of. The tampering of chassis; resale of parts that are not easily traceable, especially, for instance, the bottom half of the engine; the transmission doesn’t carry any number either; fenders; and so we suspect they come back into the normal circulation,” said Ruddock.

The police also noted that vehicles are often cloned to match legitimate ones. They have also made arrests of individuals found driving stolen vehicles.

“We have two persons in custody in St Andrew North Division for receiving stolen property. There is another case being advanced against a female. Persons involved in buying and selling participate in the washing of these motor cars. So at least one female is on our priority list to be charged in very short order,” Ruddock said, noting that some of those charged have been linked to other facing similar charges in other police divisions.

“So it goes across divisions … . In recent times, we see where they are stealing cars from within gated communities. The issue is of concern, but I suspect there might be [an] inside person who is giving access unless they have sophisticated technology that is bypassing those electronic gates,” Ruddock said.

The police have recovered at least two vehicles with push-start ignitions that have not been tampered with.

andre.williams@gleanerjm.com