August 20 2011 at 03:40pm

http://www.iol.co.za/news/south-africa/kwazulu-natal/death-threats-don-t-scare-the-hawks-1.1121806

Hawks members have received death threats as they close the net on an international drug-trafficking syndicate dealing in stolen luxury vehicles.

The vehicles are being taken in the UK, smuggled through South African ports, moved north through the border and exchanged for drugs in northern African countries in a sophisticated money-laundering operation.

The Hawks’ Unit spokesman, Colonel McIntosh Polela, confirmed yesterday that they had been working in a joint operation with the UK’s elite Avcis (Association of Police Officers Vehicle Crime Intelligence Service) unit for eight months and that Avcis members are due to arrive in South Africa this month.

Polela confirmed that one arrest had already taken place and that more were “imminent”.

“Some individuals in the (Hawks) investigating team have been receiving death-threat phone calls and this is due to the huge dent we have made in the syndicate’s pockets.

“These are hardworking teams, who are not going to be stopped by these death threats.

“We have set our sights on more members of the syndicate,” said Polela last night.

It appears to be a multi-million rand operation where high-end vehicles, ranging from Porsches, Mercedes-Benzes and BMW X5s, have been stolen in England, shipped across and smuggled through South African ports, primarily Durban and Coega.

Polela said the investigation had revealed that the syndicate’s modus operandi was to steal the keys of the targeted cars from the homes of the owners while they were either asleep or away and then return to steal the cars.

The first crack in the syndicate’s operation took place when British police recovered more than 30 stolen luxury vehicles destined for SA ports. Sixteen of these vehicles were found off-loaded in Durban in February.

Since June, 14 stolen vehicles, all in the region of R1m each, have been found at various ports.

A senior researcher in Organised Crime and Money Laundering at the Institute of Security Studies, Annette Hubschle, said that South African ports were known to be “soft targets” for criminal syndicates, and they were “well-known transport points” for the international drug trade.

She said their research had shown that border officials were paid by syndicates to alter documentation, adding that “corruption is rife”. - Pretoria News