Terror organizations being funded from cars stolen from Atlanta, Georgia
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ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) - Georgia’s Port of Savannah fuels the state’s economy, as hundreds of thousands of giant metal containers loaded and unloaded onto huge cargo ships every month. Inside those containers is everything from consumer electronics to food. But U. S.
Customs and Border Protection (CPB) officials are also discovering millions of dollars in stolen cars that are being shipped out of Georgia to fund terror organizations. “We’ve been finding very high-end vehicles,” said Officer Joe Walkin, “such as Rolls-Royces, Bentleys, and Ferraris. ” The CPB said some of these cars are stolen, with several from Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, and brought to the Port of Savannah to be shipped overseas. In one instance, officers pried open a container and found a brand-new Lamborghini inside. The officers noticed the vehicle’s identification number had been removed.
“The first thing we look for is the numbers to see if it’s listed as stolen somewhere,” said Officer Mike Montoya. The Lamborghini had been listed as stolen from a Miami car dealership. A second car - a stolen Bentley valued at $300,000 - was found inside the same container. Walkin said operations such as these are linked to larger schemes. “One or two people might be linked to 20, 30 or 40 cars for a few million dollars, so that is not a small ring,” he said.
“Typically, that money is going overseas; is trade-based money laundering; and in some cases, the cases are being taken by the FBI because they are funding terrorists. ” According to the agency, the cars are being shipped to countries such as Ghana, Libya, Jordan, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates. In the last year, the agency has recovered 72 stolen vehicles at the Port of Savannah, at a combined value of $7 million. The CPB said the people behind these operations are very hard to track down. This year, the FBI has arrested people linked to these stolen vehicles coming into or leaving Georgia’s ports.