BANGKOK: Thai customs said Friday it has seized 15 of 42 luxury cars that British authorities said were stolen and exported to Thailand. A request from British authorities to find stolen cars believed to have been exported to Thailand has led to the seizure of 122 vehicles imported by Thai dealership companies. Out of those, 15 were found to be stolen in the UK. Thai customs says they’re investigating around 300 other vehicles suspected to be illegally imported.
The customs displayed a Mercedes GLE 350 and a Nissan GTR at a news briefing Friday, part of the batch sought by Britain. The customs bureau said the cars were seized when their Thai importer attempted to ship them out of Thailand to evade officials. Kulit Sombatsiri, director-general of Thai customs, said the vehicles that British authorities are seeking were partially paid for in monthly installments by UK buyers before being sold on the black market. “The buyers only paid around 5 or 10 percent of the car’s cost and they would then sell it,” he said. “In the United Kingdom, they classify these cars as stolen.”
