ACTION must be taken to stop the growing problem of luxury stolen cars from being imported, according to CID HQ’s head Yiannakis Charalambous.
“We have put into play several actions, a meeting has also been organised under instructions from the Attorney-general (Petros Clerides) concerning various bodies, such as the police, customs, the road transport department, the legal services, in order to catch all of these things that are happening,” said Charalambous.
Charalambous, who was speaking on the state broadcaster, explained the growing phenomenon saying that in the past only stolen cars from the UK could be found on the island, however now they are coming in from more than seven countries.
“This puts more responsibility on us to stop the way in which these cars are imported and from now on all relevant authorities must at the same time work together to stop this,” he added.
Police have confiscated more than 30 luxury cars in total, worth more than €2 million, according to Charalambous. He also said that for some of the cars at least, the owners would be contacted so that they can request their return.
Just last month police impounded nine cars, thought to have been stolen abroad, during a sweep aimed at tracking down luxury stolen cars. They also found another 51 cars for which their import duties had not been paid.
Cyprus Mail