DEALING WITH VEHICLE CRIME

UNIT 10 DEALING WITH VEHICLE CRIME

INTRODUCTION

1. What is the link between cross border crime and organized crime?
2. What is cross border crime?
3. What aspects of car theft are you aware of?
4. Do you think that people must be imprisoned for smuggling stolen cars? Is this
such a serious criminal offence? Isn’t it enough to pay a fine, or to do some social
work?
5. In the Border Police, is there a need for specialists in stolen cars or is the
assistance provided by the police forces enough?

Activity 1
In pairs, read one text and relate the facts in your own words to your partner.
Comment from the professional point of view and consider the social implications
of these circumstances.
STUDENT A
In Estonia, smuggling stolen cars is almost risk free. Very few people in Estonia have
been convicted for smuggling stolen cars. The laws are incomplete in the courts have yet
to rule on on matters of legal interpretation. In contrast to the Interpol section of other
countries, Estonian officers work a lot in the streets. Thousands of stolen cars come to
Estonia every year. They arrive from all over Western Europe on ferries and overland
from the south. Most cars pass on to Russia. Estonia’s involvement is usually limited as
couriers deliver cars to buyers in the St.-Petersburg area. Last year the Estonian police
managed to return about 100 vehicles of which approximatively 20 had belonged to
Swedish and 30 to German owners.

STUDENT B
It’s an open secret that Montenegro is the best hot car market in Europe: new models,
priced to go. Most of the inventory however, appears on Interpol’s list of stolen vehicles.

The International Police Agency has no authority here, for Yugoslavia- a pariah state-
has no relationship with Interpol. A long time member of a car theft gang explained how
the cars arrived in Montenegro: “The best method is to find someone in, say, Germany,
who needs extra money and who is willing to have his car stolen. We drive the car over,
and the owner declares it stolen once it’s already here. The owner collects the insurance
policy plus a bonus from us, depending on what kind of car it is. Few cars stay in
Montenegro or Serbia, and most often continue on to the Middle East.”

When talking about cars,
smuggling means:
a) using a car in a robbery
b) using a car to transport illegal immigrants
c) illegal import and/or export of a vehicle (usually stolen)
d) using cars to transport illicit goods (contraband)

SMUGGLING. The offence of importing or exporting specified goods that are subject to customs or excise
duties without having paid the requisite duties. Smuggled goods are liable to confiscation and the smuggler
is liable to pay treble their value or a sum laid down by the law (whichever is the greater); offenders may
alternatively, or additionally, receive a term of imprisonment.


Activity 2 ORGANIZED CRIME

The following definition of organised crime can be given, based on the practice of
fighting against such crime:

“ Criminal union organised for profit-seeking to commit diverse criminal
offences, with the assumption of meeting objectives through corruption, blackmail, terror
as well as the use of force and arms. “

Exercise 1
Make sentences using some of the underlined words.

1. Almost all criminal activity has as primary motive the idea of _______________.
2. It is remarkable how varied and ________________ the criminal imagination can
be.
3. There is evidence to indicate that more criminals are prepared to use _____________
nowadays, particularly as guns are relatively easy to obtain.
4. Getting officials on your side, or to turn ‘a blind eye’ is indicative of the pattern of
______________ vital to any “successful” organised crime activity.
5. The secret criminal organisation or _______________ is not a new phenomenon.
Even
medieval society had secret societies, some committing criminal ________________ .

Exercise 2
Match the two parts to form sentences

1) Criminal groups dealing with a) in good faith or to persons receiving
stolen property.
2) They are headed by the “boss” or
“organiser”, who
b) a stolen car abroad to a final buyer, as
urgently as possible.
3) These people, functioning in European
urban centres, pay
c) the task of moving stolen cars to new,
safe places.
4) Another quite wide group of criminals d) car theft and smuggling are almost
always hierarchically organized.
5) Couriers are entrusted with the task of

transfer of
e) for thefts, supply false documents and
contract “countries” which smuggle
cars abroad.
6) Another group of offenders engaged in
this activity are people entrusted with
f) deals with the financial side of the
activity and “contract” thefts.
7) Finally, stolen cars are supplied to a
buyer acting
g) are the car thieves themselves.







Exercise 3
Re- arrange the words to make sentences.

1. The theft/ is/ of/ serious/ a / automobiles/ problem/ world-wide
2. Vehicle/ can/ support/ profits/ terrorist/ organisations/ crime/ from
3. Trafficking/ mainly/ of/ criminal/ groups/ in vehicles/ is/ the work/structured and
sophisticated.
4. South Africa/ stolen/ criminal/ is / by/ groups/ as/ to export/ a transit area /
luxury/ vehicles/ used.
5. Germany / an increase/ is/ in/ facing/ cars/ rental/ of/ thefts/ nationals/African/ by
6. Italy/ concerned/ are/ Greece/ and/ criminal/ at / groups/ Albanian/ smuggling/
are/ who/ engaged/ actively/ car/ in

7. Violence/ increasingly / as/ to obtain / is/ an / ‘modus operandi’/ cars/ luxury/
common

Exercise 4
IN MONTENEGRO, STOLEN CARS ARE WORTH THEIR WEIGHT IN
MEAT!

Put in one correct word from the box. There are 18 words in total.

TENUOUS/ DIPLOMATIC/ DIRTY/ SHUT/ BUNCH/ LUXURY/ ANXIOUS/
HOT/ WEALTHY/ STOLEN/ UP/ NOTORIOUS/ LIFE/ SALARY/ ISOLATE/
ALLIED/ MAIN/ SIMILAR/


At a time when Montenegro’s political situation is (1) …….., Western countries are
inclined to look the other way at Montenegro’s (2) ……. little secret.

Montenegro is a key part of the West’s effort to (3) ……. Yugoslav President Slobodan
Molosevic, indicted for war crimes last year by the Hague Tribunal. Montenegro’s
President Milo Djukanovic has (4) …….himself with the West and has consequently
received financial and (5) ……… blessings from the European Union.

Though Montenegro is (6) ……….. as a place teeming with stolen goods, Western
countries are (7) ……… to protect the republic’s image. While the Milosevic regime
often categorized the Djukanovic administration as a (8) ……. of criminals and
smugglers, the West points to the Djukanovic government as an example of ethnic
tolerance that is a model for the Balkans.

Meanwhile, Montenegrins are reaping the fruits of a shady trade.The deals don’t stop at
cars. Podgorica’s (9) …. street, Sloboda Ulica (Freedom Street), is filled with people

dressed in Italy’s latest fashions, their (10) ….. cars parked in front of busy cafes, where
mobile phones lie next to cups of expresso and ashtrays.

A visitor would never guess that Montenegro’s average monthly (11) ….. is less than $
100 per month. Montenegrins have a reputation in the Balkans for valuing a good (12)
….. “Visitors often say that it seems nobody does anything in Podgorica, That the cafes
are filled with well-dressed people sipping coffee all day, ” says a cosmetics “importer”
named Milos.
Yet there is hardly any industry to provide jobs for Montenegro’s 600,000 citizens, aside
from a smattering of fishing, textile and tourism. Factories are (13) ….. down. The
republic imports much of its food.

The (14) ……. car trade could be seen as a legacy of Montenegro’s geographical
location and history. With (15) ……. Italy to the West, and Balkan conflicts in other
directions, Montenegro is a natural transit point for goods across the Balkans

In their defence, Montenegrins say they’re only doing what they’ve done for hundreds of
years. This independent people eked out a living for centuries on one of the most
inhospitable pieces of European territory while surrounded by Ottoman Turks. The land
is so undesirable that the Turks simply gave (16) … trying to conquer what was then a
much smaller Montenegro.
Just as they receive Western patronage today for their role as a buffer state, in the 19
th
-
century Russia supported Montenegro for (17) …….. political reasons. In this context,
Montenegrins spent centuries raiding and smuggling to survive.
(18) ……. cars can be seen as part of that tradition


Exercise 5 CARS, CUSTOMS OFFICERS AND CRIME!

Match PART A with the correct and appropriate PART B

1. Are you the owner of the vehicle? A. Certainly, officer. Here it is. Is there
any problem?
2. Get out of the car and open the boot,
please.
B. I didn’t notice it at all. My papers are
in order.
3. The customs seal applied to the door
of your vehicle shows indications of
having been tampered with.
C. Right away, officer.
4. You can’t continue your trip because
you had a serious accident on
Romanian territory
D. Yes, here are the documents.
5. When and under what circumstances
did you make the hiding place for the
illegal exit of a foreign citizen?
E. It wasn’t my fault, but I do want to
clarify everything regarding the
accident.

6. I must inform you that this is a signed
and authorised statement of the
offence in question.
F. I don’t want to speak about this, I
need a lawyer
7. We intend to prosecute you and you’ll

go on trial.
G. Give me the statement, please
8. What is your relationship with the
person found hiding in your car.
H. Yes, I did.
9. Show me the bill of sale for the
vehicle, please.
I. I met him near the border, on the main
road. He begged me to take him.
10. Did you buy this car abroad? J. I have the right to have an official
lawyer


Exercise 6
Circle the synonym (s) of the following words.

SHOW: a) express b) display c) protect d) polish e) exhibit

SERIOUS: a) grave b) solemn c) trivial d) light e) petty

FOREIGN: a) strange b) domestic c) alien d) native e) rural

HIDE: a) mask b) expose c) cover d) reveal e) conceal

ABROAD a) near b) overseas c) close d) far away e) distant


Activity 4
Comment on the statement below and write a short composition (200 words) :

“ Violence is an increasingly common ‘modus operandi’ to obtain luxury cars for
trafficking.”

Activity 5
Read the text carefully and make an imaginary dialogue between the Swedish
officer and the car smuggler. Choose the moment when the officer is checking the
passport and the visa.

ESTONIAN CAR SMUGGLERS

On the Swedish visa officer's desk the visa applications pile up. Earlier the same
morning he had found a false passport of a known car smuggler. Frowning, he compares
the photograph in the passport with the ones in two visa applications, one old and one
new. "This passport is false," he concludes and puts it away to give it to the Estonian
police. The Swedish Embassy has information on about 60 people who have been known
to be involved in car smuggling in Europe and therefore are not granted visas. Some of
these are known by the staff after trying too often to get a visa.
Currently several north European governments are discussing abolishing the visa
requirement for Estonians. "The consequence is that you completely lose control over
who will come to your country," says the Swedish Embassy. Of course, there are
competing interests. Business would benefit from an abolishment. Several people the
reporter has spoken to at the Swedish Embassy stress that Estonia is on the right track
compared to Lithuania, Latvia and Russia. They believe that Estonia is readier and more
suitable for European Union membership than the other two Baltic states.
Corruption is on the decrease and the Soviet system is losing ground. Interpol
and several other institutions get good marks. The institutions are new and the staff is
young. Lack of experience is balanced by a strong will to rectify the problems. Also, the
Embassy officials stress that car smuggling is mainly a problem for the countries from
where the cars disappear. "You just can’t complain about the Estonians and say that it is
their fault."