KHON KAEN - People should check with the Transport Department before buying vehicles from secondhand-car dealers or via the internet as they could turn out to be stolen, police said on Thursday.
Pol Maj Gen Jatupol Panraksa, acting chief of the Provincial Police Region 4, said at a briefing after the region's centre for the suppression of car and motorcycle theft had from time to time seized cars, pick-up trucks and motorcycles which had been stolen by theft gangs and returned them to their rightful owners.
In the latest crackdown, the centre managed to seize four stolen cars and seven pick-up trucks worth about 7 million baht from people who bought the vehicles from secondhand-car dealers and via the internet.
According to Pol Maj Gen Jatupol, after stealing vehicles, the theft gangs would erase the serial numbers of engines and chasses and replaced them with fake numbers. With fake registration books, they then sold the vehicles to used-car dealers and to buyers via the internet.
People who buy these vehicles would lose their money because once the vehicles were found they would be returned to the original owners.
Therefore, before buying vehicles from used-car dealers and via the internet people should first check the engine and chassis numbers with the Land Transport Department offices for verification, Pol Maj Gen Jatupol said.